A Different Voice
by Irrational Pi
Summary: What if Sakura's inner voice wasn't what she thought it was? Is Konoha ready for the rebirth of the beautiful genius sorceress? [AU, Slayers xover]
1. Prologue

"Naruto" is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. "Slayers" is the creation of Kanzaka Hajime.

Warning: This story will eventually have spoilers for certain content of Slayers, NEXT, and TRY.

Update: blond/blonde fix

**A Different Voice**

Prologue

Posted: 6/8/2007

Updated: 7/23/2007

Sakura had been aware of her 'Inner Sakura' for as long as she could remember. It had always been like an intensified reflection of her feelings. A little louder. A little more violent. Perhaps even a little more honest.

Pale morning light shown through the thin drapes of her window as Haruno Sakura sat up in bed. She moved the curtains aside for a brief moment to smile at the brightening sky; her second-story bedroom gave her a fairly obstruction-free view. Another new day and another chance for her to capture Uchiha Sasuke's heart. Jumping out of bed, she quickly picked out the perfect outfit to accentuate her good looks and went to take a shower.

After her shower, she made her way downstairs to her family's dining room for breakfast. Like a switch, the slightest thought of breakfast awoke her inner voice. _**Foooood,**_ it moaned.

Recently her inner self had been behaving oddly, or rather, oddly compared to how it normally behaved. She was not quite sure what to make of it but her outside self had gone through changes over the years as well so it did not worry her too much.

_Is that all you have to say? Not even a simple 'good morning'?_ she grumbled internally.

_**Just getting our priorities straight.**_

_And food comes first?_

_**Of course!**_

Sakura sighed as she entered the dining room and tried to ignore Inner Sakura's continuing rant about the importance of regular meals. Her mother, Haruno Momoka, smiled at her. Sakura noticed her mother's eyes sparkling with delight. She nearly groaned aloud as she realized her mother was in one of her teasing moods.

"Finally awake?" the older woman asked.

Sakura glanced briefly at the clock on the wall. "It's not as if I'm close to being late. I still have two hours before lecture begins. More than enough time to eat breakfast and arrive on time."

Momoka raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "Unless I've set the clock back two hours," she said before exiting the dining room through the doorway leading to the kitchen.

The pink-haired girl huffed as she sat down and stared at the empty plate in front of her. When her mother entered the room again she spoke, "Father isn't up yet. And the sun was just rising when I woke. I know I didn't spend two hours taking a shower."

Her mother grinned at her and set a plate of pancakes in the middle of the table. "I'm sure you're right, dear." She ruffled Sakura's hair before flouncing out of the room once again.

_Does she have to bounce around like that?_ Sakura thought in annoyance. Sakura tried to smooth out her hair. Her mother had displaced her hair ribbon, making it more difficult. Her nose twitched as the smell of the pancakes reached her. Inner Sakura wanted to pounce on the pancakes instantly.

Her mother returned a moment later depositing some silverware and a small pitcher of syrup on the table before leaving through a different doorway, likely to check on her father who had a bad habit of sleeping in.

Sakura picked up a fork and eyed the stack of pancakes, realizing just how many pancakes there were. _Does she think she's feeding an army?_

"Why did you cook so much?!" she yelled.

"You're a growing girl!" came the reply from somewhere upstairs.

_There's twice as much as we'll eat!_ she complained mentally as she flipped several pancakes onto her plate. Her inner self rubbed its hands together in gleeful anticipation.

Several minutes later her mother reappeared. Momoka froze as she entered the room and stared in shock. Her face quickly resumed smiling and her lips twitched with barely restrained laughter. "I know I said that you were a growing girl, but isn't that a bit much?" she teased.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

Her mother simply pointed. Sakura followed her mother's gesture and saw that the entire stack of pancakes had disappeared. The syrup was nearly empty as well. The confused girl looked around the room, noting a distinct lack of fluffy, golden brown pancakes.

_**It was a good snack.**_

Sakura ignored the patently ridiculous response. She bent and looked under the table but still failed to find any trace of the missing food.

"You don't expect me to believe that they rolled out the door, do you?"

Her mother sighed dramatically and Sakura kept her head down to avoid looking at her mischievous face. She followed the sound of her mother's footsteps as Momoka crossed the room.

"I guess I'll have to cook some more for your father and myself. You aren't still hungry, are you?"

_**More?**_ her inner voice asked giddily.

"I'm going to the academy!" Sakura jumped from her chair and raced upstairs to get her book bag.

"This early?" she heard her mother question.

She quickly entered and exited her room, book bag now in hand. "I'll do some extra studying," Sakura replied as she ran back down the stairs and outside.

oOo

Sakura entered the classroom and noticed that her instructor, Umino Iruka, was sitting at his desk doing paperwork. Iruka looked up and gave her a brief smile before returning to his task. She sat down and pulled out one of her textbooks to do some extra reading. Luckily, Inner Sakura seemed to enjoy reading as much as she did so it made for a relaxing period.

Students began arriving but Sakura ignored them all until a certain black-haired boy appeared.

_Sasuke-kun! _The pink-haired girl followed Uchiha Sasuke with her eyes as her entered and walked to a seat. He did not appear to notice her attention as he sat down as far away from the other students as he could. _He's so handsome._ Sakura sighed as various romantic thoughts crossed her mind.

_**Maybe so but he's also arrogant, unfeeling, and power-hungry.**_

Sakura felt her left eye twitch. She frowned. For the first time that she was aware, her inner self had said something completely contradictory to what she was thinking. _He can't help it! He's had a tragic past!_ she argued.

_**If he gets turned into a chimeric half-demon, half-golem it'll be his own fault.**_

Now Sakura frowned for a completely different reason. She understood the substance of what her other self was saying but at the same time it had used words that she did not understand. _Chimeric? Golem? What are you talking about?_

Any further thoughts on the subject were interrupted by an overly energetic Uzumaki Naruto. "Sakura-chan! Good morning!" Sakura turned and stared balefully at the blond-haired boy. Apparently taking the silence as encouragement, he continued, "Can I sit next to you!"

"No! Go away, Naruto!"

Naruto pouted briefly before looking for another place to sit. He ended up next to the other loud boy in their class and the two started yelling greetings at each other.

_I wish he would bother some other girl. He's so loud and annoying!_

_**Not to mention cute, loyal, and brave.**_

For a moment all of Sakura's mental processes stopped. Her eye twitched again. _I did __**not **__just think that._ Sakura decided that she could no longer abide her inner voice stating such ridiculousness. _There is nothing about Naruto that I like. He's an obnoxious bubblehead._

_**Yup! A complete jellyfish-for-brains! **_came the happy agreement.

Aggravated beyond reasoning, Sakura began banging her head on the desk in front of her. She did not noticed her friend and rival Yamanaka Ino arrive and take a seat next to her until Ino said, "I don't think that banging your head like that is going to make your forehead any smaller."

The pink-haired _kunoichi _stopped her masochistic efforts and glared at the blond.

"Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

Snarling, Sakura reached out to strangle the girl next to her and she suddenly found her right arm around the other girl's neck and her left hand gripping her right. Ino struggled futilely against her choke hold.

"Gah… just… ack… a joke, Sakura," the blonde-haired girl gasped out.

Sakura released her hold and the blonde sat back while rubbing her neck.

"When did you get so fast?" Ino asked.

Sakura just shrugged, not knowing what to say. Iruka began calling names for attendance. Once finished, he announced that the class would be practicing _Henge no Jutsu_ today. Sakura ignored the questioning glances that Ino kept sending her way. While waiting for her name to be called to demonstrate in front of the class, part of her was reviewing the necessary steps for the transformation technique. Another part of her was doodling on some note paper.

When she would find it the next day, she would not understand where it came from.

The drawing had the look of a diagram. At the top a large circle with a stylized sun in the middle. Below the circle was a six pointed star. Below that star a series of four circles set in a diamond formation. In the middle of those circles was another six-sided star. Each of the four circles had two smaller concentric circles within them. In the center of the bottom-most circle, an eye had been drawn. And beside that circle was a single word: 'Shabranigdo.'

When she would find it the next day, she would shudder a little on reading that word.

End of Prologue

oOo

**Notes:**

I can't believe it. I accidentally deleted this whole thing and had to rewrite it. Parts of it are better but still. **Arg.**

Ok, if you've seen Slayers you probably have a good idea of **some **of what's going on. If not then you'll just wait a bit.

Before people start complaining about how 'Inner Sakura' thinks of Naruto and Sasuke (like why would she think that Naruto is brave at this point?), I'll say that she's a bit confused right now.

Momoka – written as 'peach tree' and 'flower'

I dislike inventing original names and techniques since I know nothing about Japanese but I try my best.

**Omake:**

_Does she think she's feeding an army?_

_**Yeah, an army of one!**_

(I just couldn't convince myself to put that in the actual text. Hehe.)


	2. Chapter 1: A New Team and an Old Voice!

"Naruto" is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. "Slayers" is the creation of Kanzaka Hajime.

Warning: This story will eventually have spoilers for certain content of Slayers, NEXT, and TRY.

Update: blond/blonde fix

**A Different Voice**

Chapter 1: Panic! A New Team and an Old Voice!

Posted: 6/13/2007

Updated: 7/23/2007

Sakura was nervous for two reasons. First, today was the day that the new graduates would be split into genin teams. Second, Inner Sakura felt like a coiled snake waiting to strike.

The past few weeks gave her plenty of reason to be nervous if her inner self felt like that. She tried to avoid thinking about it but she had come to the realization that her inner voice was taking control at times. It seemed to last for only a few seconds at the most but it still managed to get her into some awkward situations. She was learning to be more careful; the voice seemed to be able to take control only when her emotions were running high. And when she was eating.

_I am not going crazy,_ she told herself for the twentieth time.

_**Of course not. **_

The response did little to comfort her. She certainly did not consider her inner voice to be an impartial judge on the matter. All in all, she thought it was an explosive situation. She was nervous and worried about her inner voice taking control and that caused her nervousness to increase even more.

Sakura took several deep, calming breaths before entering the classroom. She quickly spotted the object of her affection. Unfortunately there was an obstacle in her path.

"Move it, Naruto! I want to sit on the other side!" Sakura concentrated on keeping control. She did not want Inner Sakura to do something embarrassing right in front of both Sasuke and Naruto. Her inner self readily admitted that Sasuke was handsome and that Naruto was an idiot but it also seemed to enjoy mocking her opinions about the two boys in every way possible.

Naruto did not move, instead he turned to glare at Sasuke. Sakura got tired of waiting and pushed him out of the way. "Sasuke-kun! Can I sit next to you?" she asked in her cutest voice. Sasuke did not respond but she sat down and slowly inched closer to him.

_**Sitting between two cute boys? Good choice!**_ Inner Sakura gave her a thumbs up.

Sakura frowned slightly, wondering whether it would be worth getting into another internal debate about Naruto's 'cuteness.' She was distracted by Naruto leaping onto the desk in front of Sasuke.

Already annoyed by Naruto's presence, Sakura quickly began yelling at him, "Naruto! Get out of Sasuke-kun's face!"

Some of the other female students began cheering Sasuke on as well, wanting to see him beat up the class annoyance. But the whole class fell silent when another boy forced the blond into a kiss with the raven-haired boy.

_**Hahahahaha!**_ echoed through Sakura's mind as her inner voice collapsed with laughter.

It took every bit of control Sakura had to not start laughing out loud. The actions of both Naruto and her own inner voice were irritating her. So when the internal laughter died down she turned to take out her aggravation on the easiest target: Naruto, who was still making exaggerated gagging noises. "Naruto, you're annoying," Sakura growled and threw a punch at his head.

Then she found herself seated again between Naruto and Sasuke. Shifting her gaze between the two boys she noticed Naruto rubbing a small lump on top of his head.

_**And people call me violent,**_ her inner voice muttered.

Sakura grimaced as she realized that she had once again been taken over by her inner self. _What did you do?_

_**Nothing except sit us down.**_ The voice rolled its eyes.

The nonchalant reply increased Sakura's annoyance. _Stop doing stuff with my body! It's mine!_

_**Sheesh, chill out already.**_

_Chill out?! That's easy for you to say; you're not the one that's going insane!_ Sakura knew that arguing with her inner self in such as way did not make much sense but the circumstances were beginning to unnerve her. _Just be quiet and stay where you belong!_

The voice in her head grumbled faintly but Sakura was distracted by Iruka reading the list of new teams.

"Team seven: Haruno Sakura…"

Sakura, both outside and inside, perked up and listened intently as she wondered whom she would be paired with.

"Uzumaki Naruto…"

Sakura grimaced at the thought of the annoying blond being on the same team. Next to her Naruto jumped up and whooped in celebration.

_**There's worse things than working with someone who likes you.**_

_Shut up!_ she snarled back.

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

"Bwahahahaha!" Sakura slapped a hand over her mouth but it was too late. The burst of laughter left everyone in the room – including Sasuke and Naruto – staring at her.

_Damn it! You're embarrassing me!_

_**Those two… the kiss… a team… hahaha…**_

Sakura slumped in her seat and tried to ignore the mental laughter.

Iruka cleared his throat to get the class' attention but Naruto interrupted before he could continue reading the team members.

"Hey, hey! Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group as that loser?!" Naruto pointed at Sasuke.

"Naruto," Iruka began, switching to his 'lecture' voice, "Sasuke was ranked first in the entire graduating class. You, on the other hand, were dead last. You were placed together to balance the teams."

At that point Sasuke spoke for the first time that day. "Try not to get in my way, Dead Last."

"What did you call me?!"

Sakura glared at Naruto as another staring match started between Sasuke and Naruto. Not wanting any more attention after her outburst of laughter she chose to stay quiet.

Iruka ignored the two and soon finished with the list of teams. "You will meet your team leaders this afternoon. You're free until then."

Naruto ran from the room grinning and chuckling which made Sakura wonder what kind of prank he was planning. Sasuke also quickly left the room in an attempt to avoid the female students. Sakura began to follow but before she could leave the room, Ino grabbed her arm. "Getting Sasuke-kun on your team might be cause for celebration – after all you need all the help you can get – but what was with the maniacal laughter?"

"That wasn't my fault!" Sakura replied before she considered her answer completely.

Ino raised one fair eyebrow. "Oh? Then whose fault was it?"

_It's all your fault!_ she mentally cried at her other self. "Never mind," she muttered.

Ino looked at her with concern clear on her face. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Didn't know you cared, Ino-pig," Sakura spat.

The blonde frowned at her and released her arm. "Fine. Be that way, Forehead Girl."

Ino left the room and after a few moments Sakura did as well, leaving in search of a place to eat lunch.

oOo

Sakura stared at the large _bento_ in her hands. The box had multiple tiers, each filled to the full with food. It held rice, pieces of grilled fish, skewers of meat, various picked vegetables, rice balls, an omelette, and even a bowl of soup. It had taken her almost an entire day to cook everything. She continued to stare at the package. This might be it. Her last chance. Her last hope. Her inner self salivated.

_Okay, I let you eat this and you stay quiet for the rest of the day. Agreed?_

_**Sure thing! Whatever you say!**_ Even if it was all in her head the amount of drool was disgusting.

Sakura had cooked the food with the thought of using it as a distraction at some point, now her hope was to meet their new sensei while in complete command of herself. She sighed as she released control to her other self.

She was back in control a few minutes later. All of the food that she had painstakingly crafted was gone. Not even a single grain of rice remaining.

_What did you do? Lick it clean?_ she thought in revulsion. Her inner self did not reply but a feeling of deep satisfaction radiated from it.

Sakura sat the empty boxes next to her on the bench. After all the attempts she had made to get Sasuke to notice her he was finally on her team. He had even looked directly at her for a few seconds today which was a first. Unfortunately that had occurred after her uncontrolled laughter which could not have made a good impression. Sakura rested her chin in her hands as her thoughts focused on her embarrassment.

She was roused from her contemplation by footsteps. Looking up she found Sasuke approaching her with a light smile on his face. His black eyes met her green eyes and Sakura found herself blushing.

"You have such a charming forehead. Makes me want to kiss it."

Sakura nearly gaped at the handsome boy, unable to respond. _Is this for real?_ she wondered. Her inner voice was unusually quiet, however, apparently abiding by their earlier agreement.

The pink-haired girl felt a huge grin start to form but Sasuke continued, "Sounds like something Naruto would say, doesn't it?" Her grin was crushed before it could form and her blush vanished as Sakura felt disappointment surge.

The young Uchiha sat next to her. He looked away from her and his smile turned into a more neutral expression. "There's something I want to ask you."

Sakura examined the boy sitting beside her. He appeared to be nervous for some reason but his posture was much more relaxed than normal. "What is it?" she asked curiously.

"What do you think of Naruto?" Sasuke looked at her as he asked the question but Sakura looked away this time as she felt her anger stir.

The question that the raven-haired shinobi asked had to be the most unexpected that Sakura could imagine. _We're sitting here alone and he wants to talk about __**Naruto**_ The hyperactive wannabe-ninja was the last thing that she wanted to be thinking about at the moment. Inner Sakura was still quiet but Sakura could feel it smirking which fed her anger.

"He's annoying, always getting in my way," she said, venting her irritation. "He doesn't understand me." Sakura turned back and looked Sasuke in the eyes. He looked even more nervous than before. All thoughts of Naruto disappeared from her mind as she stared at her crush. "All I want is to be acknowledged by you." This last statement seemed to cause his nervousness to vanish and his expression turned to one of shock. "I'll do anything for that purpose." Sasuke's expression was difficult for her to read but his eyes were full of emotion making her blush again, more heavily this time. _He's looking at me so warmly. It's time to act!_ She inched closer to him. "Because I like you." Sakura closer her eyes and leaned forward for a kiss.

Even with her eyes closed, Sakura could tell that Sasuke's lips were approaching hers. Her heart beat more quickly. After a few more seconds, though, she felt him move away. Sakura opened her eyes and saw that Sasuke was holding his stomach. He stood up and said, "I'll… be back…"

Sakura felt some disappointment as she watched the boy dash away but her thoughts quickly turned positive. _He's shyer than I thought he would be. That's so cute!_ Sakura heard a mental snort. Her inner voice was a jumble of emotions; amusement at something warred with a small amount of scorn that seemed to be directed at Sakura herself. The kunoichi focused her attention away from her other self.

When Sasuke returned a minute later, Sakura bounced up from the bench and approached him. "Are you ready now, Sasuke-kun?" She felt like squealing with glee as she gave him a bright smile.

The black-haired boy glanced at her for a brief moment before asking, "Where's Naruto? It's time to meet our instructor."

Sakura frowned. All of her success at getting Sasuke to open up had disappeared while he was gone. _He's talking about Naruto again!_ All of her anger returned in an instant. "Who cares about Naruto? All he does is get into fights with you."

Sasuke still looked to be ignoring her; he continued to turn his head as if searching for something.

Seeing that he was not paying attention to her, Sakura felt even more frustrated. She found it easier to continue her rant than to switch topics. "Of course, he hasn't had a normal childhood. No parents to scold him." Sasuke's movement had stopped but Sakura missed the fact. "He's so lucky, able to do whatever he wants."

"Being alone…" Sasuke's words came as a surprise to Sakura. He was still not looking in her direction as he said, "The pain of having your parents yell at you doesn't approach that."

The cold tone that he spoke with sent a shiver through her. "Wh-what?" she asked in confusion.

Sasuke finally turned in her direction. His eyes met hers but this time they were different. They did not hold their earlier warmth or even his normal cold disinterest. He glared at her with a contemptuous iciness. "You're annoying," he said before walking away.

Sakura stood in shock. The simple comment from the boy she liked made her feel a misery unlike she had experienced before.

_**Idiot.**_

The comment from her inner voice did not make her feel better but it did let her start thinking again, wondering how things had degraded so quickly. She knew that Sasuke had lost his parents but most of the time it did not cross her mind when she tried to interact with him. _I wasn't thinking about his feelings,_ she realized which caused her to wince.

_**How often do we consider anyone's feelings?**_ Inner Sakura asked, sounding sad and subdued.

The thought sent a spike of pain through her heart. Sakura immediately thought of Naruto, whom she yelled at every time he tried to talk to her and how she had called him 'annoying' countless times to his face.

_Is this how Naruto felt?_ she wondered. She whispered to herself, "Maybe I can try to be nicer to him." Her steps felt heavy as she walked back to the academy.

oOo

Sakura fidgeted slightly. The jounin instructor for team seven was over two hours late and she was getting tired of sitting still. Sasuke seemed patient enough but Naruto was pacing and grumbling. Sakura's inner voice was being quiet again after its bitter comment.

The situation made her uncomfortable. She simply was not used to sitting still with nothing to do and no one to talk to. Most of the time she could keep her mind occupied but her thoughts kept drifting to her conversation with Sasuke which she was trying to avoid thinking about. The early conversation also prevented her from speaking with either of the boys in the room. Her inner voice would usually distract her in such situations but it appeared to be trying to follow their agreement. She frowned as she realized the direction her thoughts were taking her. _I'm not feeling lonely, nope, not at all,_ she told herself._ Not having to worry about you causing problems is for the best_. The other part of her mind remained silent.

A few more minutes went by. Naruto paced, Sasuke sat as still as a statue, and Sakura tried not to squirm.

Naruto suddenly snickered. Sakura watched as he grabbed a chalkboard eraser.

Her reticence briefly warred with her curiosity but curiosity quickly won and she asked, "What are you doing?"

The blond-haired boy laughed as he wedged the eraser at the top of the door. "That's what he gets for being late!"

"Is that how you want to be introduced to our new sensei?"

Naruto did not answer Sakura's question but snickered some more as he moved away from the doorway.

Sasuke made a disapproving sound and said, "Do you really think a jounin is going to fall for such a simple trap?"

His question was answered a moment later when a tall silver-haired man opened the door and entered the room. The eraser hit his head and created a small cloud of chalk.

Naruto started laughing. "That's what you get!" he taunted the jounin.

"Sorry, sensei. Naruto like to play pranks," Sakura said as she blushed slightly in embarrassment.

Sasuke simply stared at the man.

The man rubbed his chin in thought. "My first impression is… I don't like you." The young ninja made no response aside from giving him slight glares. "Meet me on the roof," he ordered before making a seal and vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

oOo

When they arrived on the roof, the jounin told them to sit down and introduce themselves.

"What sort of introduction do you want?" Sakura asked him.

"Oh, you know. Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies… Those kinds of things," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. His visible eye had a disinterested look to it.

_Is this guy really reliable?_ she asked herself.

"Wait a minute!" Naruto began in a loud voice. "What about you? Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "You're kind of suspicious."

The man continued to look apathetic. "Hm? Me? Well… My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm not going to tell you my likes or dislikes. As for dreams? I don't know… I have a lot of hobbies."

The three genin looked at each other. Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch from slight annoyance. "So all we learned was his name?"

"Okay, now it's your turn," Kakashi said.

"Me first! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! What I like is ramen! I like ramen that Iruka-sensei buys me at Ichiraku even more! What I dislike is waiting three minutes for ramen to cook!"

_Is ramen all he thinks about? _Sakura wondered. She felt a vague approval coming from her inner voice.

"My dream is to become Hokage and have everyone in the village acknowledge me!"

_From dead last to Hokage? He's definitely dreaming._ Sakura realized how negative she was being toward Naruto once again and decided to never tell him what she thought about his dream. She could tell that Inner Sakura approved of his ambition, however.

"My hobby is pranks, I guess."

Kakashi looked at Naruto for a few more seconds before saying, "Alright, then. Next."

Sasuke was sitting next to Naruto. Sakura noticed him frown briefly before he began speaking. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like many things but there are a lot of things I dislike."

_Great, his introduction is sounding like Kakashi-sensei's._ Sakura blinked as she realized that she was now thinking critically about her crush. She shook her head and tried to throw the thought away.

"I wouldn't call it a dream… but I have an ambition: to resurrect my clan and to kill a certain man."

_Wow!_ The young shinobi's declaration impressed her greatly. Her inner voice let out a faint snort but did not say anything.

Sakura noticed their new trainer staring at Sasuke. For a moment, his gaze was more intent than it had been when he was watching Naruto. His apathy returned and she questioned whether she had actually seen it. "And finally, the girl."

Sakura took a deep breath before she began speaking. So far, her inner self had been relatively quiet since lunch. Her nervousness had died down a lot and she felt fairly confident that it would not interfere. The introductions would all be over in a minute and she would be able to relax.

"My name is Haruno Sakura," she started and gave Kakashi a small smile that he did not react to. "What I like… or should I say who I like…" Thinking of Sasuke she blushed, looked away, and let out a giggle. "What I don't like is… _Mazoku_!" The last word seemed to leap from her mouth. _Evil race? What the hell?_ "Er… evil people, I mean." Her face now turned red for a completely different reason. _What are you making me say?_

_**Sorry, but that wasn't my doing.**_

_I don't even know what that term means,_ she mentally argued. _But I bet you do! You've been using a bunch of strange words!_

_**You're still doing your introduction, you realize.**_

That thought startled her out of her mental haranguing. The boys were looking at her, Naruto had a confused expression and Sasuke was unreadable as usual. Kakashi's eyebrow had raised a small amount.

Sakura's confidence was gone and she started stumbling through the remainder of the introduction. "Er… my hobby… no, I mean… my dream…"

"Is to become the number-one beautiful genius sorcerous kunoichi!"

Sakura's jaw dropped as she realized that the words had come from her mouth. Her inner self was laughing heartily. _**Now that was me.**_

_You!_ she snarled mentally, not able to find an appropriate insult for what she was currently feeling. All of her plans had been for naught and Inner Sakura had embarrassed her in the worst way.

"Alright! Go, Sakura-chan!" she heard Naruto shout. She looked at him. His happy grin reminded her of when he spoke about becoming Hokage. She glanced at Kakashi, noticing that he was giving her a very piercing look. Finally, she turned toward Sasuke, fearing what his expression would be. He did not look disgusted or derisive or anything else that her mind had imagined. He did look faintly confused but mostly she had the impression that he was reevaluating her.

Kakashi cleared his throat to get their attention. His eye had regained its lazy look. "Alright, tomorrow we begin our duties."

Sakura was silent as Kakashi began describing the 'true' genin test; Naruto yelled at the silver-haired man after every revelation. Her mind kept drifting to the reaction of the other members of her team to her proclaimed dream. Naruto's reaction was understandable enough. The blond enjoyed such grandiose statements. Sasuke, on the other hand, was more difficult to read. She had made him angry earlier and now she had done something that probably caused him to change his image of her. The question was whether it was for the better or worse. _I guess I'll just have to wait and see._

_**Aren't you going to thank me for getting his attention? **_her inner voice asked teasingly.

Sakura ignored it. Kakashi handed each of them a page with details after telling them to not eat breakfast. Sakura read the document Kakashi had given her intently. _Sasuke is sure to pass. I have to work hard to stay with him!_

The jounin's eye crinkled up happily as he said, "Don't be late." Leaves spun around his body and he disappeared.

The three young ninja were left to prepare.

oOo

The next morning Team Seven arrived at the training grounds at 9 AM. Naruto made his typical enthusiastic greeting and Sakura, still stinging slightly from Sasuke's words the previous day, returned the greeting – but at a normal volume. She made her own greeting to Sasuke which drew a grunt from the moody boy. The two boys glanced at each other briefly before turning away and ignoring each other's presence.

After waiting ten minutes, Sakura began to realize that their sensei would be late again. Inner Sakura began to whine about the lack of breakfast for the hundredth time but she continued to ignore the voice.

Naruto began pacing. After thirty minutes, he switched to jogging around in circles. Another half hour passed and he was bouncing all around the clearing that the training area was centered around.

Sakura shook her head. She was sitting on the ground, conserving her energy for the upcoming 'survival training' test. Sasuke was acting similarly, leaning against a tree.

_**How long are you going to ignore me?**_

That was the first non-food related thought from her inner self this morning. Sakura frowned, trying to decide whether to answer it or not. Naruto ran by her and into the trees. She wondered how he expected to do well on the test if he tired himself out before it even began.

_**Well?**_

Sakura sighed and replied,_ I don't want to talk to you. You didn't follow our agreement yesterday!_

_**You were blaming me for something I didn't do!**_

Sakura grumbled a bit out loud. She did not notice Sasuke's attention divert to her for a few moments before he returned to watching their blond teammate run around.

_Okay, I'll take your word for it. This time! What is a 'Mazoku' anyway?_

Her inner voice was silent for several seconds but Sakura could tell that it was deciding what to say. _**Mazoku are a race of powerful demons, **_it finally answered.

_Demons? Like the Tailed Beasts?_ she questioned.

_**Tailed Beasts?**_ came the puzzled response.

Sakura frowned, wondering how her inner self could not know what a _Bijuu_ was. _You know, like the Kyuubi. The demon fox that attacked twelve years ago._

Inner Sakura began mumbling to itself. Sakura heard it repeat 'Kyuubi' several times but could not make out anything else.

Naruto returned and sat down next to her. He was out of breath and sweating heavily, causing Sakura to sigh at his state. Several minutes later, however, Naruto was looking as fresh as when he first arrived. Sakura noticed that Sasuke was also studying the blond.

Two hours after the appointed time, their errant sensei arrived with a casual, "Hey, there. Good morning!"

"You're late!" yelled Sakura and Naruto.

Kakashi sat a timer on one of the stumps. "Okay, here's the deal. This timer is set for noon." He held up two small golden bells tied to strings. "If you want to eat lunch, you have to take a bell from me before the alarm goes off. I'll tie anyone who doesn't get a bell to one of these stumps. And I'll eat my lunch in front of you."

The three twelve-year olds felt their stomachs contract at his announcement.

_So skipping breakfast was a trick,_ grumbled Sakura.

_**We'll definitely get a bell!**_ her inner voice enthused.

"Of course there are only two bells, so at least one of you will get tied up. Additionally, if you don't get a bell, you'll be sent back to the academy. At least one of you will fail this test."

The members of Team Seven gulped at that.

"Come at me with everything you have. Including shuriken. If you don't try to your hardest to kill me you won't get anywhere."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah! You're too slow to dodge a blackboard eraser!" Naruto stated with a smirk. "You'll get killed instantly!"

Kakashi eyed the blond lazily. "The dog that barks the loudest is often the weakest. Well, I'll just ignore Dead Last here. Start when I say-"

Naruto snarled and drew a kunai. He prepared to throw it but his target was behind him in an instant and had twisted his arm so that the kunai was pointed at the back of his head.

"Calm down. I haven't said 'begin' yet," the jounin said.

_**He's fast!**_ exclaimed Inner Sakura.

_I couldn't even see him move,_ Sakura agreed.

Kakashi's voice hinted at a smile as he spoke, "At least you're ready to try to kill me. You've decided to acknowledge me? Good, I'm starting to like you as well."

Sakura felt a trickle of sweat slide down her face as she realized how difficult their sensei was going to make the test. _This won't be easy._ Her inner self grinned in anticipation.

"Seems like you're ready. So… Begin!"

Two of the ninja jumped away in blurs.

Sakura peeked out from her hiding place and watched as Naruto attempted to take Kakashi head on. _Idiot, _she mentally commented. Kakashi easily avoided or blocked Naruto's taijutsu attacks.

_**Watch him closely. We need to find a weakness.**_

Kakashi moved himself behind the younger ninja in an instant, dodging Naruto's fist. His hands were clasped together, his little book between his palms, and Sakura thought that he had decided to go on the attack.

_Is that the Tiger hand seal?_ she asked herself, looking at his hands carefully. _What's he going to do?_

His younger opponent obviously did not even know where the jounin had gone, leaving him completely unprepared for whatever attack Kakashi was planning.

"Naruto! Behind you!" she called out in warning.

"Too late!" Kakashi said before shouting the name of his attack. "**Konohagakure Hiden: Taijutsu Ougi: Sennen Goroshi!**"

'_Thousand years of death?' That's not a ninjutsu,_ she thought with annoyance. The strength that the jounin demonstrated as the ass poke sent Naruto flying was discouraging, making it even more obvious that the more experienced ninja was playing around.

_**You should move. Kakashi knows where we are now.**_

Sakura winced as she realized that she had given away her location. She quickly, and as silently as she could, dashed through the bushes to another location. She returned to watching the clearing just in time to see Naruto catch Kakashi from behind as several other Naruto clones closed in. Watching carefully, she noticed how water dripped from the clones and how their feet flattened grass as they moved. _Solid bunshin?_ That was a technique she had never seen or heard of before.

_**Interesting, **_her inner voice commented.

Naruto's attempt was impressive until he actually tried to connect with Kakashi. A simple _Kawarimi no Jutsu_ foiled the whole effort. Sakura winced in sympathy as Naruto realized that he had beaten up himself.

_**He's trying to beat up Kakashi more than he's trying to get a bell. That will never work.**_

_I need to find Sasuke-kun._ Sakura left her hiding spot and darted through the trees and brush, attempting to circle the clearing in hopes of finding the black-haired ninja.

_**Sasuke?**_ Inner Sakura asked. _**Why?**_

_If anyone can help me get a bell, it's Sasuke-kun!_

Her inner voice grumbled a bit but admitted, _**It's better than just sitting there doing nothing like you were.**_

_You saw what happened to Naruto!_ Sakura knew that Naruto was not the best at taijutsu but Kakashi had easily handled nine solid clones of the blond ninja at the same time. There was no way that her standard academy techniques would prove much use in a fight against the silver-haired man. _What am I supposed to do against a jounin?_ she complained. As if her thoughts had summoned him, Sakura suddenly spotted the older ninja standing beneath a tree. She quickly slowed her pace and hid behind a bush. He still had his orange book in hand and his attention appeared to be focused on it but Sakura was not fooled and she watched him carefully, trying to find a way around him.

_**A very interesting question. I'd blind him with a Lighting and then cut the bells' strings with a weak Flare Arrow, **_advised her inner self.

"Raitingu?" she whispered. _Is that Eigo? What sort of jutsu are those?_

Before she got a response, a voice whispered, "Behind you."

Startled, Sakura spun around. She caught a glimpse of Kakashi then leaves spun around her and the whole world seemed to spin with them. Then Kakashi was gone, he was no longer behind her nor beneath the tree where she had first seen him.

Sufficiently surprised, she asked aloud, "What was that? Where did he go?"

_**Something doesn't feel right.**_ For some reason the words from Inner Sakura were muted and she had difficult focusing on them.

"Sakura," she heard a recognizable voice call.

"Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed and moved toward the source. She found Sasuke but the black-haired boy was missing part of his left arm and his body was riddled with shuriken and kunai.

_**It's an illusion!**_ The warning from her other self seemed to come from a long distance.

Sakura screamed.

_**Not that I've ever had much success at breaking illusions,**_ was the last thing she heard before fainting.

oOo

She awoke in a forest. She felt a bit dizzy at first but the feeling quickly passed and she stood up. "Gourry?" she called, "Where are you?" No response came so she picked a random direction and began walking. Her balance seemed off for some reason, as if her legs were suddenly a different length.

"Zel? Amelia?"

She reached up to scratch her head but her hand encountered a piece of metal. This drew her attention to her clothes in general. She picked at the material for a moment. She did not think the clothes were bad looking but they certainly were not what she normally wore. Much more disturbing was the fact that her Demon Blood Talismans were missing.

She began walking faster, looking for anything recognizable. She finally came to a small clearing and saw a peculiar sight. The black-haired boy from her odd dreams had been buried in the ground and only his head was visible.

Her worries flew from her mind as she dropped to her knees, pointed her finger at the boy, and began laughing. He scowled at her and she could tell that he was struggling to get out of his entrapment. "Sakura!" he snapped at her which caused her to fall silent.

"Sa-Sakura?" she echoed. Various thoughts flew through her mind. Her eyes widened and she gasped before falling unconscious.

oOo

Sakura felt something nudge the side of her body. She did not feel like waking up but the nudge became more insistent. Opening her eyes, the first thing that she noticed was that she was not in her bedroom. A few puffy clouds dotted the blue sky and the sun hung almost directly overhead.

The pink-haired girl was surprised to find Sasuke standing over her. He looked at her with his typical expression except for a slight narrowing of his eyes.

Sakura was relieved to find him in perfect health. "Sasuke-kun!" she began but he interrupted her before she could say any more.

"Why were you laughing?" he asked and she could hear a bit of anger in his voice.

The question shocked her and she blurted out, "Laughing?" An idea formed in her mind and she furiously thought to her other self, _What did you do now?_

Her mind felt strangely empty, though, and she somehow knew that a response would not be coming.

Sweating as the boy continued to watch her, she desperately sought for some way to answer him. "Ka-Kakashi-sensei used a genjutsu on me."

"So he said," was Sasuke's reply.

"I… I don't really remember anything after that." Sakura gave a short laugh from her nervousness.

Sasuke grunted and began walking away.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something and promptly closed it again. _Something goes wrong every time I talk to him,_ she complained internally. She felt her heart clench as she watched him walk away. "Sorry!"

Sasuke stopped and turned to face her.

"I'm sorry," she started again, "for what I said yesterday. And for laughing at you. Even if I don't remember it." The last sentence came out barely audible.

As Sasuke looked at her she once again had the impression that the dark-haired boy was reassessing her. Finally, he gave her a nod before turning away. "I'm going to go get a bell now."

Just then the two heard the ringing of Kakashi's alarm, causing Sasuke to swear. They made their way back to the clearing where Kakashi was waiting. He had already tied Naruto to one of the stumps. Their sensei's expression was typically blank as he considered them.

"Well, you look hungry but I have something to tell you first," the jounin stated. The three young ninja looked at him; Sakura's face showed her slightly curiosity and Naruto's frustration. "None of you need to go back to the academy."

_What? That was all we needed to do?_ Sakura halfway expected a response but her mind retained the empty feeling.

Naruto cheered at the top of his lungs. "Yes! All three of us!"

Kakashi's eye creased upward as he said, "That's right. All three of you should stop being ninja."

Sakura froze in dismay at the words. Sasuke glared at the tall man. Naruto went silent and gaped for an instant before he yelled, "What do you mean? We didn't get the bells but why should we quit?!"

Kakashi sighed and shook his head slightly. "Because none of you are worthy of being called ninja."

Sasuke made a slight growling sound and charged the jounin only to end up face down with Kakashi sitting on top of him.

"You've just proven my point," Kakashi commented as he pushed Sasuke's head down with his foot. "Aren't you underestimating me? Do none of you understand the answer to this test?"

_Naruto tried a direct attack and I got ambushed. Sasuke must have tried to get a bell but he failed also. Kakashi-sensei is suggesting that we're all going about the test the wrong way. _

"What do you mean?!" Naruto shouted with frustration evident in his voice.

Sakura asked more calmly, "What is the answer then?"

"It's teamwork," Kakashi answered with an exasperated tone.

"Teamwork? But there are only two bells."

"Naturally. This test is designed to see if you can set aside your differences and self interests to work toward a common goal. It's a common test for teams with problematic members."

"'Problematic?' Us?" the pink-haired girl questioned. _Why he would use that description for us?_

"Sakura, you were only thinking about Sasuke when you didn't even know where he was. You ignored Naruto who was right in front of you. Naruto, you were acting completely on your own. And Sasuke, you assumed that the others would just get in your way."

Sakura wondered if the odd jounin had been eavesdropping on their class when Iruka announced the teams. His earlier usage of 'Dead Last' and his sharp comment to Sasuke indicated so. That or he had some very detailed reports from Iruka. Either way, Kakashi showed that he had done a more thorough job of investigating them than his lazy manner initially suggested.

_He's probably seen how I reject Naruto and how Sasuke-kun ignores both of us most of the time,_ she thought uncomfortably.

"Teamwork is crucial in real world situations. You will be assigned missions as a team. Individual skill is important but a team is expected to become greater than the sum of its parts. Not taking your partners into consideration will end in mission failure or worse. For instance…" Kakashi quickly removed a kunai from his belt pouch and held it to Sasuke's neck. "Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"

Sakura gazed at the man in horror as Naruto struggled against his bindings and shouted, "Nooo!"

"Acting alone can get yourself or even your teammates killed because you will be together in life-and-death situations." Kakashi removed the kunai from Sasuke's throat and stood up. Naruto and Sakura both sighed with relief as he walked to the stone monument. "Carved on this stone are the names of ninja who have been recognized as heroes."

Naruto's face lit up with joy and he shouted, "I want to be acknowledged as a hero too! I'll get my name written on there!"

"But this is a memorial for the heroes who died in the line of duty."

Sakura glanced at Naruto and saw him blanch. His smile faded into a sad expression. She noticed that the silver-haired jounin also had Sasuke's attention. _He certainly enjoys being dramatic,_ she thought with some amusement. Considering how well he had pointed out her own shortcomings, she had to admit that his technique was effective though.

"My best friend's name is on here," Kakashi added. Somehow the simple statement made it seem all the more real to the three young ninja. The names on the memorial stone were real persons with friends and family. Even Naruto was affected by the realization and his frown became a pained grimace.

Kakashi turned back to the three would-be genin. His visible eye held a fierce look as he said, "I'll give you one more chance after lunch. I warn you now that I won't go as easy on you this time. If you want to attempt to take the bells again then you can eat lunch but Naruto doesn't get any food."

"What?!" came the instant complaint from the blond.

"It's your punishment for trying to eat by yourself," he was told. Looking at Sakura and Sasuke he said, "If you give him any food then you all fail. Remember, I make the rules here." Kakashi disappeared after his final warning.

"I'm fine!" Naruto declared. "I don't need any food! I'll kick his ass anyway!" Naruto's stomach let out a loud rumble.

Sakura and Sasuke sat down and began eating the lunches that Kakashi had provided. Sakura once again noticed the unusual absence of her inner self. It was especially strange to not hear Inner Sakura during a meal. She heard Naruto's stomach continue to growl as she picked at her food half-heartedly.

_Even if all three of us work together how can we get a bell from a jounin? He has an overwhelming amount of skill._ She felt particularly disappointed in how she had fared during the test. She was lost in her own thoughts and did not immediately notice when Sasuke shoved his half-eaten lunchbox toward their blond-haired teammate.

"Eat," Sasuke ordered. Naruto looked at him in astonishment. Sakura mirrored him as she realized Sasuke's intentions.

_He's going to break Kakashi-sensei's order?! _ Sakura felt incredulous. "Sasuke-kun!" she objected, "Kakashi-sensei said-"

"Don't worry, I don't sense him," the young Uchiha interrupted. "Naruto needs to eat, otherwise he'll be useless. If we're going to work together to get the bells we all need to be ready."

Sakura wondered if she should follow Sasuke's example. Naruto was probably the hungriest considering how active he had been. _I guess I can't even blame him for running around before the test; that's how he's always been,_ she ruefully reflected. Her own hunger had been diminished from worry and disappointment.

When she handed the remainder of her lunch to Naruto, the surprise on his face was even greater than before. _He's more surprised by the girl he likes treating him nicely than the boy he thinks of as his rival doing the same._ The thought was ironic enough to be worthy of her inner voice but it was all her own.

Naruto's expression became a happy grin.

A large burst of smoke heralded Kakashi's return. His sudden appearance caused all three to flinch and Sakura stumbled backward. Scowling at them the silver-haired jounin yelled, "You three!" His furious expression caused Sakura to shriek in fear. "Pass!" In an instant his demeanor shifted to an obviously happy grin, visible even with his ever-present mask.

"Huh?" Sakura managed to ask, too stunned to form a coherent question.

"You pass," Kakashi repeated.

"We do? Why?" the emerald-eyed girl asked. Naruto's face echoed her own confusion. Sasuke was watching the jounin with suspicion.

"You're the first team to pass," Kakashi commented. "The others unthinkingly followed my instructions. Remember, a ninja must 'see underneath the underneath.'" He paused for a moment, either to let his words sink in or to consider what he would say next. "Those who break the rules and regulations are called trash in the ninja world. But more importantly, those who don't care for their companions are worse than trash."

Naruto gazed at Kakashi in awe and Sasuke made a derogatory sound. Sakura smiled a bit as she thought, _He really wants to emphasize teamwork._

Kakashi continued to grin down at newly certified genin. "So the training ends," he said. "Tomorrow, Team Seven begins its duties."

Sakura's smile increased and she whooped in celebration.

oOo

That night Sakura tossed in her bed, trying to find a comfortable position. Her stress had accumulated over the last two days and even the victory over Kakashi's tricks had not done much to make it disappear. The insights she had gained about her interactions with others was what was truly bothering her.

_I have to admit it,_ she griped internally. _I actually miss 'Inner Sakura.'_ It was liberating to have someone to talk to who knew all of your secrets.

Suddenly, the odd emptiness that she had been feeling in her mind vanished. Sakura smiled and heaved a relaxing breath. _Welcome back,_ she thought. _What happened to you?_

There was no response for a minute. Finally, her inner voice responding by saying, _**My name is Lina.**_

Sakura sat up in bed, blinking in shock. She felt a cold chill run down her spine. _Wh-what? _

_**My name is Lina,**_ it said again in the same calm tone.

Sakura felt a trickle of fear and her heart began beating more quickly. _What do you mean your name is 'Lina?' Why do you have a name at all?_

_**Because my parents gave it to me,**_ 'Lina' replied blandly.

The pink-haired girl laughed a bit but not from any humor. _You're insane. Or rather, I am. I really do have multiple personalities._ Her fear was no long a trickle, it was a flood racing through her.

_**I don't think that's it, exactly.**_

_Oh, you don't, do you? I'm talking to a voice in my head that causes me to do things that I don't want to do!_

_**Just calm down for a minute,**_ Lina said patiently.

Sakura felt her hands shake as she tightly gripped her bedcovers. _Calm down?! I don't want to calm down! I want you go away!_

_**But-**_

_No! Go away!_ she mentally screamed.

The empty feeling returned as Lina went away again.

Sakura had been aware of her 'Inner Sakura' for as long as she could remember. It had always been like an intensified reflection of her feelings. A little louder. A little more violent. Perhaps even a little more honest.

But now she knew it was not 'Inner Sakura.' It had its own name. It was not a part of her. It was not her at all. Now it was something completely alien and it scared her greatly.

Sakura did not sleep well that night. When she finally fell asleep, nightmares of her losing all control of her body drove her awake once more.

End of Chapter 1

oOo

**Notes:**

Ug, parts of this chapter were annoying to write. Too much repetition of content. Part of that did help me get a better understanding of Sakura, I think, so that's good. To write the story the way I want, changes have to start small. And most of the changes right now are internal. Don't expect that to last though. /grin

In Slayers spell names are in English, invented nonsense, or a mix. Only the chants are in Japanese.

_bento_ – lunchbox  
_Mazoku_ – strongest hierarchy of demons in Slayers terminology, unfortunately translated as 'Monsters' by Software Sculptors  
_Eigo_ – English language

_Konohagakure Hiden: Taijutsu Ougi: Sennen Goroshi_ – Hidden Leaf Secret: Taijutsu Supreme Technique: Thousand Years of Death


	3. Chapter 2: The Journey to Wave Country!

"Naruto" is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. "Slayers" is the creation of Kanzaka Hajime.

Warning: This story will eventually have spoilers for certain content of Slayers, NEXT, and TRY.

Update: 1) minor grammar and spell chant mistakes, 2) blond/blonde fix

**A Different Voice**

Chapter 2: Ambush! The Journey to Wave Country

Posted: 6/20/2007

Updated: 6/27/2007, 7/23/2007

The past two months had been a mixture of good and bad for Sakura. It was good to be out of the academy and on a genin team doing actual missions. The other two juvenile members of Team Seven had even adjusted to some extent. Sasuke would sometimes response with more than a grunt and Naruto was no longer yelling about every little thing. Kakashi had demonstrated his intelligence and experience when giving small bits of advice regarding their missions and the three genin were learning to trust him.

There were at least as many problems, however. Kakashi was always late and often by the time they arrived at Hokage Tower to pick up an assignment all of the available missions were already taken. There were more than thirty active genin teams currently and missions were first-come, first-serve.

Kakashi was not the only member of Team Seven that was causing difficulties. Naruto and Sasuke competed at every opportunity that they had. Or, more accurately, Naruto constantly tried to outperform Sasuke. Their rivalry was not exactly one sided Sakura had come to realize; she noticed that Sasuke quite often goaded Naruto into these contests.

The missions themselves caused a good amount of annoyance. Everything from walking dogs to shopping, the missions were frustratingly easy and none of the younger members of Team Seven felt that they were learning anything. The missions were also much more time-consuming than they initially sounded. Gathering an amount of a particular herb for the medics of the hospital for instance had taken nearly a week due to the scarcity of the herb in the forested areas in and around the village and how small the individual plants were.

Their current mission was perhaps the most exasperating yet. Finding a lost pet did not sound too hard until the genin realized just how many hiding places there were in a village like Konoha. This was their second time to hunt down the cat – which apparently ran away quite frequently – and Sakura was convinced that the retched thing had learned as much about their system of tracking as they had about its habits. It was only after the cat had ventured outside the village boundaries that they were finally able to capture it. It had actually been lucky for them that the cat had ventured into the woods where Sasuke was able to use his tracking skills to follow its trail. The mission had still occupied a whole three days and Sakura shuddered to think of what it would be like the next time they were asked to ferret out the tabby. Kakashi did not seem to care how long it took them to complete a mission and she found herself wondering if he was secretly amused by their efforts.

And so she found herself slowly grinding her teeth as they brought the runaway feline back to Hokage Tower. Naruto was carrying the beast and trying to avoid its sharp claws. He had certainly been happy when they caught it, especially since he had made the physical capture, but his smile was becoming more and more strained as he struggled with the pesky animal.

"We oughta stop at the vet and get this bastard de-clawed," the whiskered boy suggested. His blue eyes glittered wickedly as he continued. "Neutered too!"

Their tall commander looked down at the blond. "I've already radioed that we have the cat in our possession. The Fire Lord's wife will be waiting for us by the time we get there."

"She should keep it in a cage," Sasuke muttered, "and never let it out."

Sakura sighed and tried to think about something else, anything else. Her traitorous mind drifted to the subject of her inner self – _Her name is 'Lina,'_ she mentally sneered – which was even worse than thinking about the cat.

Sakura had not heard Lina's voice in her mind since the night of the bell test. She had been terrified during their last conversation but she still found herself occasionally yearning to hear the boisterous voice. Sakura assumed that those feelings of longing came from her long time familiarity. It felt like she had lost a close friend. She could not help but compare it to her emotions when her relationship with Ino had changed from best friends to barely-tolerated rivals. Sakura shook her head, trying to rid herself of that thought. _It isn't the same at all! Ino is a real person. She never tried to take over my body!_

Her mixed feelings had left her dazed and confused on several occasions to the extent that even Sasuke had once asked her if she was feeling well. What would normally have sent her jumping for joy had barely managed to lift her spirits at all. Sakura had told him that she was having trouble sleeping and he had grunted in response.

She was brought out of her contemplation by a hiss from the cat in Naruto's arms. It landed a swipe on his cheek, adding a set of scratches perpendicular to his whisker marks. Sakura and Sasuke tensed, wondering if the cat would escape Naruto's grip, but the blond genin tightened rather than loosened his grip and the cat yowled in protest.

Sakura decided that the cat would make a fine target for some of her frustration. Her glare made the animal subside almost instantly and it gazed back at her in fearful fascination. Naruto looked at her with some confusion and Sasuke's eyebrows raised from his surprise. Sakura did not notice either of the boys' attention but she did notice Kakashi looking at her with what she had come to think of as his curious face, though the differences in his expression were often difficult to distinguish due to his mask.

Sakura blushed lightly in embarrassment and looked down at the stone road. _Here I am trying to take my anger out on a __**cat **__of all things,_ she mused. Even with that recognition it was impossible for her to let go of her annoyance at the mangy creature; her shame merely served to increase her feelings.

The feline was beginning to struggle again and Naruto's forced smile was cracking.

"L-sama!" Sakura swore. "I'm getting tried of this stupid cat."

oOo

Moving the other direction on the crowded street, an older teenager with grey hair had noticed the brief spark of killing intent from the pink-haired girl. It was a delicious sensation, especially considering the age of the girl. It was also quite insignificant to him, just a momentary curiosity. That would have been the end of his interest except that he also heard the young genin's exclamation. He did not stop nor did he turn his head but his eyes darted toward the young kunoichi and followed her movement for a second.

His grin increased minutely as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

oOo

Naruto sat on the floor, ignoring the Sandaime's explanation of the mission ranking system. "Yesterday I had pork so tonight should be miso ramen. Although beef sounds good too…"

The Third Hokage was frowning lightly at the loud blond but Naruto's back was turned away. "You need to listen," the Hokage said with a bit of impatience.

Internally, Sakura agreed completely with Naruto's complaint. The D-rank missions that they were receiving had to be the worst 'duties' possible. On the other hand, she had too much respect for the Hokage to complain directly to him as Naruto had just done.

Naruto used his hands to spin himself around while remaining seated. "You can lecture me all you want," he complained, "but I'm not the class troublemaker anymore!" The young ninja spun back around and pouted.

The Hokage smiled at Naruto, though the boy was turned away. "In that case, I suppose I could give you a C-rank mission," he said.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted as he jumped to his feet.

Sakura immediately felt some of her stress disappear. C-rank missions almost always involved travel outside of Konoha. She would welcome a change of scenery, a chance to get away from the everyday familiarity of the village and her home. "What sort of mission is it?" she asked.

"A protection mission," the Sandaime replied. The old ninja adjusted his hat slightly and was obviously about to say something else when Naruto interrupted.

"Who are we protecting?" he excitedly asked. "A princess?! A lord?!"

The Hokage cleared his throat and called out, "You can come in now."

A man entered from a side room. He was wearing tattered clothing and he held a bottle of sake. He looked at them with a disgusted expression.

"This is Tazuna-san, a civil engineer from the Land of Waves. You will be escorting him home and guarding him there for a time," the Hokage explained.

"These kids are supposed to provide me with super protection? They look super weak, especially the super short speck."

Naruto laughed lightly. Looking at his teammates, he asked, "Who's the super short…?" He trailed off as he figured out that he was the shortest. "I'll kill you!" he yelled at the old man and tired to run toward him.

Kakashi held him back by his collar. "Attacking the person you're supposed to protect isn't such a good idea," he said blandly.

Sakura smiled a little at Naruto's predictable overreaction. Her grin increased as she realized that she was smiling for the first time in weeks. She believed even more that this mission would be just what she needed to get her mind off certain matters.

Kakashi looked at his genin team. "Alright, my team needs to prepare so we'll meet at the village gates at eight o'clock tomorrow morning," he said before dismissing them.

oOo

Sakura was packing, or more to the point, she was trying to pack. Her father had supplemented the standard academy list of necessary items with a short list of things that he had found useful on longer missions. Her mother, on the other hand, kept popping into her room to give the pink-haired girl her own bits of advice – none of which were actually new or helpful.

"Do you have enough heavy clothes? I've heard it's colder in Wave Country," the older Haruno woman asked.

"I'll be fine. I can always wear several layers if it gets cold."

"What about an umbrella? Or better yet, a raincoat!" Her mother had always been enthusiastic about making sure Sakura was properly dressed.

"A little water won't hurt me, but yes, I have rain gear packed."

Momoka bit her lower lip and left the room, leaving her daughter alone for the moment. Sakura sighed in relief and resumed packing, placing a small first-aid kit in her nearly full backpack.

She felt a chill crawl slowly down her spine as her mother came back into the room. The older woman was trying to look worried but her sparkling eyes ruined the effort. _Oh, no, _Sakura thought with dread, _not tonight._

"What about that pretty green kimono?"

Sakura blinked in confusion. "What about it? I'm going on a mission, not to a festival!" she replied indignantly.

"Oh, you never know," her mother said with a smirk, "a long mission, far away from home, accompanied by the boy you like…"

"Wh-what?!" Sakura cried with shock. "What boy?" She desperately hoped that her mother would end this conversation; she did not like where it was going.

"You can't fool me!" her mother happily said. "I've seen you looking at that Uchiha boy. I don't know what you see in him – he's not my type at all – but Mommy understands about first loves! "

Sakura was not sure which part of the conversation was the worst. Her mother not only knew that she liked Uchiha Sasuke but was also making comments about her daughter's and her own 'tastes.' Regardless, this had to be the most embarrassing experience in her twelve years of life. Her face was as red as a tomato and her mouth opened and closed as she sputtered. Momoka looked on, raising a pink eyebrow as her green eyes twinkled.

Sakura eventually managed to put together a proper sentence. "I am not taking a kimono!" she angrily stated.

Momoka huffed in disappointment. "Fine, fine. But be sure to take what every girl needs for an overnight trip with a boy."

Sakura looked at her mother with mounting horror.

"Extra shuriken!"

oOo

"Let's go!" shouted the energetic blond. Naruto practically began vibrating with pent up energy the instant they stepped through the main gates of Konoha.

Sasuke gave the blond an annoyed look as he walked past.

Sakura was happy to be leaving also but her excitement obviously paled in comparison to Naruto's. "What's gotten into you?" she asked.

"Because! Because! I've never been away from the village before." Regardless of the fact that they had been outside the village just yesterday while hunting the cat, Naruto was looking around eagerly as if everything was new to him.

To Sakura the trees looked much like the trees inside the village. The dirt path that trailed away from the village looked much like the paths to the wooded training areas. There was a psychological factor considering that they would not be back for several weeks and the distance they would travel but it was not having such an immediate effect on her.

Tazuna had a weary look on his face as he watched Naruto run around. "You sure I'm safe with this pipsqueak?"

Kakashi's eye crinkled up as he smiled in response. "They're all better than they look. And I am a jounin, so you needn't worry."

Kakashi signaled them to start moving. Sasuke moved down the path first, taking the lead and watching the forest closely. Naruto and Sakura flanked the old man and Kakashi trailed behind them.

Sakura looked at the man walking between her and Naruto. They knew nothing about him except his name, his fondness of sake, and that he was a civil engineer. She should have been watching for possible attacks, given that this was supposed to be an escort mission, but she felt completely safe this close to Konoha. Her curiosity finally got the better of her. "What sort of things do you design, Tazuna-san?" she asked.

"I'm a super expert bridge builder," the old man said.

"I'm going to be Hokage some day!" Naruto exclaimed from beside him. Sakura wondered whether he was trying to 'one up' the older man with his claim. She decided that it was more likely that he had been looking for an opportunity since meeting Tazuna. His enthusiasm and love of bragging made him make the statement to everyone he met.

Tazuna snorted. "As if a runt like you could become Hokage."

"I will too!" Naruto shouted. "And then everyone, including you, will have to acknowledge me!"

The bridge builder looked at Naruto, his eyes clearly showing his dislike of the young genin. "No, I won't, brat. Even if you did become Hokage."

Sakura rolled her eyes and waited for the blond's reaction. She did not have to wait long.

Naruto gritted his teeth and snarled at the man. "I'll kill you!"

Kakashi once again caught him by the neck of his clothes. "Haven't we been through this before?" he tiredly asked. The one-eyed jounin gave Sakura a look that said it was her fault for starting the conversation. Sakura glared back a bit but Kakashi's attention had already left her. He made Naruto and Sasuke switch places, so the black-haired Uchiha was now on the other side of Tazuna.

Sakura gave Sasuke a smile which earned her a brief, emotionless glance before he returned to watching the trees.

The pink-haired kunoichi gave up on having a conversation for the present; she did not want any more of Kakashi's ire and Sasuke was far from the most talkative person.

They traveled east slowly but steadily. It was nearing midday when Sakura suddenly felt Lina's presence return. She nearly stumbled but forced herself to keep moving.

_**You're about to be attacked,**_ said Lina.

Whatever she had been expecting from the voice after its two month absence, this was not it. _What?! How-, _she began to ask but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a chain wrapping around something.

She turned and gasped on seeing her sensei bound by a razor sharp chain.

"One down," the two enemy ninja commented as they pulled the chain taunt. Sakura felt a suffocating fear as she watched the shredding of the silver-haired jounin. She screamed in fright at witnessing death for the first time.

_**What's Kakashi doing?**_ Lina absently wondered, unnoticed by Sakura due to her terror.

The two masked ninja jumped into the air and landed behind Naruto. Their chain followed them, coiling and forming a loop which descended toward the frozen genin. "Two down," they said viciously.

Then Sasuke was moving, jumping toward the attacking pair. A thrown shuriken and kunai pinned the enemies' chain to a tree. The Uchiha heir landed with his feet on the enemy ninja's clawed gauntlets. He swiftly shifted his weight to his hands and landed a kick on both of them. The two ninja grunted in pain but immediately recovered from the blows, disconnecting the chain from their claws with a twist and rushing in different directions.

_**Heads up!**_ Lina shouted, snapping Sakura out of her catatonic state.

Sakura noticed that the closer of the two enemies was heading toward Tazuna. "Stand back, sir!" she called out as she stepped in front of him, quickly pulling a kunai out of her holster. The foreign ninja did not alter his course and she knew that he would go right through her to get to the engineer.

She swallowed reflexively from fear and she could feel herself freeze up as the ninja approached.

Lina growled somewhere in the back of her mind. Sakura felt Lina push her to the side; at least that is how she would have explained the mental experience.

Whether it was due to the previous experiences or the adrenaline surging through her she did not know but this time she was aware of everything that Lina did with her body. Her right hand dropped the kunai she was holding. The weapon was deftly caught by her left hand while her right hand was raised above her head, the fingers splayed out. Some part of her awareness was focused on the ground directly in front of her. Strange sounding words, completely unlike anything she had heard before, blazed through her mind. The words carried with them ideas and concepts that she was unable to grasp. Power of some kind gathered in her hand. Her mouth opened and other unusual words, though these were far more natural sounding, spilled from her lips.

"**Dill Br-**" Her mouth closed with a snap, nearly biting her tongue, when Sasuke jumped in front of her. Sakura felt a spike of annoyance at the boy. The words in her mind were instantly erased and the energy in her hand dissipated. A second later, Kakashi reappeared, landing a solid blow to the ninja's neck and knocking him unconscious.

Just as suddenly as she had been taken over, Sakura was in control again. She shivered. She could feel tears of frustration begin to form and she tightly closed her eyes in an attempt to prevent them from spilling out. _Don't do that!_ The mental complaint was half shriek and half whine.

_**I'm not going to just watch you die!**_ Lina protested.

Sakura was trembling from the attack and worry about Lina when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she found Kakashi looking at her with concern. She let out a gasp when the comprehension that Kakashi was alive hit her.

She drew a shaky breath. "I'm alright," she lied.

He looked at her for long moment. "Good," Kakashi finally responded. "I need to tie these two up and take a look at Naruto."

_**We'll talk later,**_ Lina said and then she was gone.

Sakura sat down to rest for a minute, hoping that there was not going to be another sudden attack. She was certain that her nerves would not be able to handle any more surprises.

"Hey," Sasuke said, getting Naruto's attention. "You okay, scaredy cat?" he asked with a smirk.

Naruto's eyes bulged at the insult but he said nothing in return. He glared at Sasuke with such intensity that Sakura thought he would attack his teammate at any moment.

"Okay, that's enough. Calm down, you two," Kakashi said, apparently having caught the byplay as he tied the two enemy ninja to a tree. He stood up and walked toward Tazuna. "Their claws are poisoned so we'll need to do something about your injury, Naruto. Try to relax and not move around too much or else the poison will spread faster."

Naruto grimaced at his hand and Sakura saw some scratches on the back of his hand. Despite how shallow the cuts were the area around them was turning a vivid red.

Kakashi scratched his head for a moment. "It seems as if our two 'friends' here were after you," he said while facing Tazuna. "Would you like to explain, Tazuna-san?"

The old man had a nervous expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I let them have their sneak attack so that I could determine who their target was. Now, I could interrogate them but I think I'll ask you first. Do you know anyone who might hire ninja to kill you?"

The bridge builder sighed and appeared to deflate. "There's a super wealthy man name Gatou."

"The shipping magnate?" Kakashi questioned.

"Yes. His fleet has given him a monopoly on goods going in and out of Wave Country. The bridge we are building is a threat to him."

"If that's the case," Kakashi said, "then these two chuunin probably aren't the last enemy ninja that we'll face. This is beyond a C-rank mission now. It's at least B-rank."

Sakura shuddered at the thought of facing more enemy ninja. She knew that sooner or later it would occur in her profession but she did not feel ready yet, especially while she was dealing with Lina.

"Wave is a super poor country thanks to Gatou. We could not afford a mission more expensive than C-rank."

The one-eyed ninja shook his head. "Nevertheless, this mission is outside of our responsibilities."

Sakura nodded. "This is too much for us! And we need to get Naruto's hand looked at by a medic." She noticed Sasuke frown at her words.

"Looks like we have no choice but to return," Kakashi said.

Naruto growled and Sakura saw his fingers turn white from the grip he had on his kunai. Without further warning he plunged the blade into his hand.

Sakura gasped. "What are you doing, idiot?!" she shouted at the reckless boy.

Naruto gave a forced grin. "I swear by my blood on this kunai: I'll protect the old man." Despite the obvious pain on his face, his voice was full of solid determination. Sakura's eyes widened at the declaration.

"I don't want my first real mission to end this way," Sasuke added.

Sakura noticed Kakashi looking at her questioningly. _If Sasuke-kun wants to continue..._ Her reluctance had mostly disappeared after hearing the two boys. She nodded to Kakashi and he gave her a brief smile in return.

"Naruto," he said suddenly, "it's good to let out the poison but too much and you'll bleed to death." Naruto began panicking and Kakashi moved to him to bandage his hand. "And Tazuna-san… since we are continuing this mission I need to get as much information from you as I can."

Tazuna gave a hesitant nod.

oOo

The first night of their journey to Wave Country was slightly damp. A splattering of raindrops had started while they were setting up their tents for the night and continued steadily. The rain was not heavy enough to make starting a fire impossible, just enough to make it a hassle. Naruto devoured several cups of instant ramen while the other members of the party had more nourishing yet ultimately unsatisfying 'Meals Ready to Eat.' Sakura volunteered for the first watch and Kakashi told her to wake him in two hours.

She sat turned away from the fire to preserve her night vision and waited for the inevitable. She thought about what exactly she would say to the other being. She thought about what she could do to make it stay away. She thought about mental hospitals and straightjackets and the night seemed to turn colder. She rubbed her bare arms and scooted backward to be a little closer to the fire. She waited anxiously.

This time when she felt Lina's presence, Sakura was the first to communicate. _I appreciate your… concern for my life but I'd prefer it if you would just leave me be._ What she left unspoken was that she thought Lina's 'concern' was from not wanting to lose a body to possess.

_**We can't lie to each other, you know,**_ was Lina's reply. _**I know that you're still worried about me taking complete control.**_

_Well, what am I supposed to think?_ Sakura thought in misery.

_**It's not like that, though.**_

_What is it like?_ she questioned. _You have controlled my body several times._

_**I know, I know,**_ Lina said remorsefully. _**It's all been so confusing. I didn't understand. Today was the first time I deliberately did it. I just want to help you.**_

Sakura found that she could feel the sincerity behind the statement. Much of her nervousness was replaced by confusion. _Why? Why do you want to help me? Don't you want to be in control?_

_**This is your life not mine, **_Lina stated. _**I want to help you because you remind me of myself.**_

Sakura's puzzlement increased as she considered Lina's responses. _What do you mean this isn't your life? How can I remind you of yourself?_

_**I wasn't much older than you when I started adventuring,**_ Lina said. _**Although I was quite a bit better trained.**_

_What do you mean 'older'? Wait, what does any of what you just said mean?!_

Lina was quiet for several seconds. _**I don't understand why I'm in your mind… in your body. I remember my own life rather well, or at least seventeen years of it,**_ Lina said, causing Sakura to boggle.

_This is getting beyond weird,_ Sakura thought, _but as far as I know you're some psychological disorder caused by my traumatic past!_

Lina was stunned speechless for a moment and Sakura was sure that Lina would be sweating profusely if she had physical control. _**'Traumatic past,' right,**_ Lina muttered. _**Well, there is one thing that I don't think your mind could have just invented.**_

_What's that?_

_**Magic,**_ Lina said.

_Magic? That's just another way of describing ninjutsu and the like. Usually by people who don't understand it properly._

_**I'm not talking about ninjutsu or genjutsu or anything else you were taught in the ninja academy,**_ Lina argued, _**I mean majutsu. Sorcery. When we were attacked earlier by those ninja in fatigues I started casting a spell.**_

_I felt you doing… something,_ Sakura admitted. _But I didn't understand what or how._

_**That was sorcery. It doesn't use chakra like your techniques. You don't know how to use magic just like I don't know how to manipulate chakra.**_

Sakura was curious about that assertion. _You were there during the classes at the academy. Why haven't you learned to use chakra?_

_**Partly because I don't have any practice. I can remember you performing Kawarimi, Henge, and Bunshin but it was you doing it not me.**_

Lina fell silent and Sakura waited for her to continue.

_**Mostly… until recently… everything that was happening felt… odd. Like I was dreaming. I've felt more like myself lately. Like I'm awake now.**_

Sakura sighed. _You seem to have all the answers,_ Sakura complained.

_**I've been thinking hard for the last two months.**_ Sakura could tell that Lina was fairly irritated and that she was not very happy with their situation either.

Sakura herself no longer had an overwhelming fear of Lina but she was still uncomfortable and very wary of the other personality or identity or whatever she was.

_**I'm a girl,**_ Lina said with amusement, _**like you are.**_

_Thank goodness for small favors,_ Sakura thought wryly.

oOo

Several days later they arrived in the Land of Waves. Sakura had calmed to a degree after her internal conversation with Lina. Lina was now focused on getting Sakura to give permission for her to assist in any future battles. The fact that she was asking permission – even if she had refused to promise not to take over without it – added to Sakura's increasing sense of security.

As they stepped from the small boat Lina was once again making her case. _**I'm just saying let me show you how it's done. I've got a lot more battle experience than you do.**_

_I am a fully trained kunoichi, you know,_ Sakura thought back with some annoyance.

_**You're also considered the weakest of the graduates in terms of combat,**_ Lina said.

Sakura winced. Her paper test grades were excellent but most of the subjects at the ninja academy had a practical part, which lowered her overall grades significantly. It was a very sore point with her. _I'm not going to get any better if you're in control!_

Sakura felt Lina grin at her. _**Now there's a reason I can appreciate.**_

Sakura's blood pressure began rising. They had argued for days about Sakura's distrust of Lina, her distrust of 'magic,' the consequences of using said magic in front of other people, the possibility of Lina getting stuck as the dominant personality, and a multitude of other potential problems. Every reason that Sakura gave for not switching places during combat Lina simply ignored as irrelevant. Now she was giving up because of a rather weak argument. Sakura was swiftly learning that the sorceress could easily get on her nerves.

_**I prefer positive thinking, **_Lina said in response to her thoughts_**. All those excuses you gave didn't matter to me. On the other hand, improving yourself is worthy goal.**_

Sakura sighed and shook her head. They made their way inland from the small sea-side community where they had arrived. The path they were following was heavily forested but it seemed that the island was not called Wave Country for nothing – there was always some water in sight.

She noticed Naruto glancing around, exaggeratedly studying their surroundings as they approached a small lake. The overhead sun sparkled on the small waves in the body of water. She was about to ask him what he was doing when he pulled a shuriken from his holster.

"There!" the blond shouted, attracting everyone's attention. He flung the shuriken into the bushes. No one moved for a few seconds. "Must have been a mouse," Naruto said as he tried to sweep his unruly hair back.

"Na – ru – to," Sakura growled in anger. Lina laughed inside of her. "Stop pretending, everyone knows there was nothing there!"

"Shuriken aren't toys," Kakashi said nervously, "so please stop playing with them."

Naruto ignored them and seemed to be looking for another target.

"Stop it right now, midget!" Tazuna yelled.

"This time for sure!" Naruto threw a second shuriken into the bushes.

Lina was laughing harder and Sakura felt her lips twitch in harmony to the other girl's emotions. "I told you to stop!" she shouted at the shorter ninja. Sakura hit him on the head which caused him to yelp in pain.

Kakashi had gone to investigate the area where the shuriken landed. Sakura assumed that he was going to retrieve the weapon. _Maybe he'll confiscate the rest of Naruto's shuriken,_ she thought hopefully. He came back holding a white rabbit.

The jounin handed the dead animal to Naruto who began crying apologies and hugging it. Sakura looked on in disapproval. Lina was no longer laughing. Sakura expected her to berate Naruto as well but the sorceress was not paying any attention to the blond shinobi.

_**Incoming! **_Lina suddenly exclaimed.

A second later Kakashi was calling for them to get down. Sakura noticed Naruto was still obsessing over the rabbit so she jumped on him and drove him to the ground. Sasuke had similarly tackled the bridge builder.

A humongous sword spun through the air over their heads, missing Kakashi by less than a centimeter as he ducked. The sword's blade dug deep into a tree and came to a stop. When Sakura looked up she saw a man, a ninja obviously, standing on the sword's handle. He wore gray pants with camouflaged leggings and arm covers. His lower face was hidden by bandages wrapped around his head. A forehead protector was tied crookedly around his head, the symbol of the Hidden Mist clear on the surface.

_**That sword… looks like a giant meat cleaver, **_Lina commented inanely.

"Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi calmly stated, "missing-nin from the Hidden Mist."

Sakura saw Naruto tense, preparing to attack their newest enemy. At the same time, she heard Lina muttering about which spell would be best. Before Naruto could charge, Kakashi flung out a hand in front of him. "Everyone stay back," he said, "this one is far more dangerous." Kakashi pulled his _hitai-ate_ up to a normal position on his head.

Sakura was curious as to why he was moving it but she could not see his face from where she was standing. _I thought he had lost his left eye._

_**If he hasn't, why hide it? Why show it now?**_

Zabuza smiled down at Kakashi from his perch. "You appear to be the great Copy Ninja, Sharingan Kakashi." Zabuza's amusement was evident in his tone.

_**Sharingan?**_ Lina asked. _**What is that?**_

Sakura had no answer for her.

"Here's the battle plan," Kakashi said, "you three are to surround and protect Tazuna-san. Leave fighting Zabuza to me."

"What the hell is that eye?!" cried Naruto, who was closer to Kakashi and standing on the same side as his normally hidden eye.

"Sharingan is a special ability," Sasuke answered, "that allows one to read and defeat all forms of tai-, nin-, and genjutsu."

Sakura thought it strange that Sasuke would know such a detail; it certainly was not something covered during their classes in the academy. He had also sounded oddly angry while giving the description.

Zabuza chuckled. "What's even scarier is that it allows an individual to copy techniques by simply seeing them performed. I'm honored that you are taking me seriously but the old man will die regardless."

The missing-nin was obviously preparing to move as crouched on the handle of his _zanbatou_. _**Meat cleaver,**_ Lina whispered. Sakura tried her best to ignore the sorceress as she took up position next to Tazuna. Naruto and Sasuke also moved close to the engineer, readying their kunai. Unfortunately, the resemblance of the sword was striking, especially with the circular hole near the end of the blade. Sakura fought down a giggle which would definitely have been inappropriate in the circumstances.

Zabuza jumped from the tree, taking his oversized sword with him, and landed on the nearby lake, his feet somehow finding purchase on top of the water. He performed a hand seal and water spiraled into the air around him. "**Kirigakure no Jutsu**," he said as the water turned to mist. The mist thickened around him, hiding the missing-nin from view.

Lina frowned in Sakura's mind. _**We should have attacked him first. Don't let your enemy set the pace of battle,**_ she said.

Sakura frowned in return. _Kakashi said leave it to him. _Her thought caused Lina to grumble.

The mist was expanding from the shore, slowly surrounding them. The location where they had last seen Zabuza held Kakashi's attention. "He's an expert at silent killing," he informed them, "so stay sharp."

The passing time seemed to stretch as they waited for Zabuza's next move. Sakura could tell that even Lina was becoming more anxious.

"The mist is getting thicker!" Naruto yelled, stating the obvious. Sakura figured that his nervousness was getting to him.

Even Kakashi's form, only a few meters away, was being lost in the fog. _**A fog of death,**_ Lina quietly said with a shiver.

"Brain, spine, jugular vein, subclavian vein, lungs, liver, kidneys… or heart," the litany came from the mist around them. The three young Konoha ninja looked around in confusion, unable to determine the direction Zabuza's voice had originated from. "Eight options. But which shall I choose?"

Sakura felt a sudden flood of emotions. There was a massive amount of fury directed at her. She was able to distinguish it from Lina's emotions; these new feelings were coming from **outside** of her mind. The source of the foreign emotions desired her death above all else. Her own mind produced a fear, greater than any she had before, in reaction which utterly paralyzed her. Sweat poured down her face.

Lina once again took the reins of her body. _**You won't learn anything by fighting this guy if you die, **_she gave as an explanation. Lina relaxed her body, ready to move in an instant. She loosened the grip on the kunai in her hand.

"Don't worry," Kakashi said. He turned toward them and she could see his left eye but it was closed as he smiled. There was a scar running vertically down his face, making it apparent that he had received some type of injury to his eye in the past. "I won't let my comrades die."

"Is that so?" Zabuza asked. Suddenly he was in the midst of the genin.

Sasuke and Naruto had both been affected by the killing intent and their reactions were slow. But Lina, commanding Sakura's body, reacted immediately, intending to toss the kunai in her right hand at Zabuza. Zabuza was in a low stance and in the middle of the genin but Lina aimed for a throw that would make the knife go between her teammates if she missed. Lina did not know how to use a kunai. But even though her mind was in control it was still Sakura's body and physical brain. Lina flung her arm backward and let Sakura's muscle memory do the rest. Hours of practice came into play and the kunai was launched toward the missing-nin's face.

A kunai appeared in Zabuza's left hand and easily deflected the thrown blade, sending it spinning to the ground. His eyes bored into hers.

_**Not fast enough!**_ Lina thought in frustration. First the sensei of Team Seven and now this rogue ninja from Kiri displayed a speed unlike any humans she had encountered before. Her specialty was in ranged combat; in close quarters most of her spells would damage her or her friends as much as the enemy. _**I need to slow him down.**_

Thinking of spells to impede his movement, Lina quickly rejected the idea of using a Shadow Snap. The fog surrounding them had dimmed the sun to the point where their shadows were indistinct and she doubted the effectiveness of the spell in the current conditions. She decided that a Freeze Arrow would be best and prepared to cast the spell.

Kakashi abruptly arrived, his motion sending the Lina and the genin sprawling. He plunged a kunai into Zabuza's chest. Zabuza's body melted a bit and then turned completely into water, splashing down around Kakashi's feet.

"Behind you, sensei!" Naruto shouted.

Another Zabuza was there, swinging his sword in a wide arc that went through the silver-haired jounin's torso. Lina flinched, knowing that Kakashi had not used Kawarimi to escape this time. But Kakashi also dissolved into water.

Kakashi held his kunai to Zabuza's neck. "It's over," he calmly said.

"Woah," Naruto breathed in awe.

_**So this is what a ninja battle is like,**_ Lina mused. _**So much deception.**_

Sakura internally sighed with relief.

Zabuza chuckled. "Your monkey-like imitations can't beat me," he mocked. Lina began preparing her spell again, thinking that the enemy ninja still had a trick up his sleeve

Kakashi must have had a similar notion; he slashed Zabuza and revealed that it was yet another bunshin made from water.

The clones were quickly becoming irritating to the sorceress. _**How do you tell which one is real?**_ she complained.

_I'm not sure,_ Sakura confessed.

Zabuza was behind him once again, swinging his giant meat cleaver in the same method. Kakashi ducked this time, making it clear that it was the real Kakashi, but his black-haired opponent kicked him and he was sent flying into the water.

"**Suirou no Jutsu,**" the missing-nin called out, his hands flashing through several seals. Water spun upward and formed a solid sphere around Kakashi. "You made a mistake and now you're trapped." Zabuza formed a hand seal with his free hand and a mizu bunshin formed. Lina watched in interest as the water rapidly gathered and flowed upward to form a replica of the ninja.

The clone stood between the genin and the real Zabuza.

Lina smiled lightly as she heard it begin to speak. "Wearing forehead protectors and pretending to be ninja," it said to the genin in a sneering tone. Naruto was closest to the clone and its eyes were trained on the blond.

_**Typical bad guy,**_ Lina thought scornfully, _**he has to belittle his opponents**_. Lina noticed that the real Zabuza was not moving. "Source of all power," she whispered, calling to the spirits of nature. Magic began amassing in her hands.

_What are you doing?_ Sakura asked nervously.

The clone formed a seal and disappeared into the mist. "A real ninja has survived countless life and death situations." Zabuza's voice echoed from the fog.

Naruto looked around frantically.

_He's gone!_

_**Then I'll aim at the real one.**_

"Flame which burns beyond crimson," Lina continued to chant. She raised her hands and turned her palms to face Zabuza.

On the verge of completing the spell, Lina suddenly felt her head explode with pain. Her body tumbled roughly against the ground for several meters.

"Sakura-chan!" and "Sakura!" two voices cried out.

"You aren't worthy of being called ninja," a cold voice said.

"Stop! Take Sakura and Tazuna-san and run!"

Lina tried to get back on her feet but it was a struggle just to make it to her knees. Her head was throbbing.

_That worked really well, _Sakura commented sarcastically.

Lina was having difficulty even thinking. Sakura's body was not as accustomed to pain as her own had been. _**I made a mistake. I should have known he would come after me first.**_

_The kunai,_ Sakura murmured. Sakura tried to regain control of her body but Lina forcefully pushed her away.

_**No!**_ Lina exclaimed. _**You might pass out; I'm definitely better at handling pain than you are.**_

Sakura was not certain that was true but did not argue.

"Sasuke! We're taking this bastard down!" Naruto's voice rang out. "I've got a plan." His tone was sounded grimmer than Sakura could ever remember hearing from the blond.

"Teamwork?" Lina and Sakura heard Sasuke say. His voice was not insulting as it usually was when talking to the hyperactive Uzumaki, instead it contained interest.

_Naruto willing to work with Sasuke-kun?_ Sakura thought in amazement.

_**Sasuke willing to work with Naruto?**_ Lina thought at the same, much to Sakura's annoyance.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

"Hm… Shadow Clones… and large amount," commented Zabuza. They heard several copies of Naruto's voice bellow and then Zabuza gave a grunt of effort. "Not enough!"

Lina tried to raise her head and the effort almost made her collapse. She felt gentle, but callused hands on her arm and back. "Just stay down; let the boys handle it," Tazuna said. "For some reason, I think they just might be able to."

"Sasuke, catch!"

"**Fuuma Shuriken: Kage Fuusha,**" Sasuke's voice called out.

"A shuriken won't work against me," Zabuza declared.

Sakura's worry about the fight intensified on hearing Sasuke begin an attack. She tried to raise her head and in doing so instinctively reclaimed her body. The pain was excruciating, far more than she had expected and she was unable move a single muscle.

She must have blacked out because suddenly she was hearing Kakashi's voice, obviously freed from the water he had been trapped in.

"**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!**" Kakashi shouted and she heard the sound of roaring water.

Lina was again in control. She looked up and found Tazuna still standing over her, though he was looking toward the battle. His attention shifted to her as soon as she began to move. "I'm feeling better now," she said to him. She began to stand and Tazuna gave her a helping hand when it became obvious that she was not going to remain prone.

_**Are you okay?**_ she asked Sakura.

_That… hurt,_ came the weak answer. Lina grimaced, worried about the effects the experience would have on Sakura.

"You're right, he's dead," she heard a new voice say as she got to her feet. Lina saw a young ninja wearing a decorated face mask standing in a tree above Zabuza's body. "Thank you very much, I have been waiting for an opportunity to kill Zabuza," the ninja said.

"A hunter-nin of the Hidden Mist," Kakashi commented as he stooped to check Zabuza.

"Correct," replied the hunter-nin.

"He's dead," announced Kakashi, standing up.

"What the hell?!" Naruto shouted in protest. "A guy that strong was killed by a kid like me?! How is that possible?!"

"There are those that are younger than you yet stronger than me," Kakashi said while patting Naruto's hair in an effort to pacify him. "That is the truth of this world."

Naruto scowled at Kakashi.

The masked ninja jumped down to Zabuza's body and picked it up. "I must dispose of the body now," he said. "Farewell." The hunter-nin disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto noticed that Sakura was standing and he rushed over to her. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" He was frowning worriedly and his voice was subdued.

_**Do you want to handle this?**_ Lina asked but she received no response from her other half. "I'll be fine, Naruto," she said, hoping that it was the truth. She gave him a reassuring smile and the boy blushed. _**Oops.**_

Sasuke joined them. He looked at her for a second and Lina could read concern in his eyes before he averted his gaze. "Don't push yourself."

Lina snorted in response which caused Sasuke to look at her again. "Look who's talking," she said and gave him a wry grin.

"Bah," Sasuke said and turned away again.

_**I just know you're going to want to kill me after this.**_ It was really beginning to disturb her to be in command of the body without Sakura's presence.

Kakashi sighed as he walked over to them. Lina looked at him and was able to see his unusual eye clearly for the first time. It had a red pupil and three black comma-like defects. Kakashi moved his forehead protector back down over the odd eye. "Time to get Tazuna-san back home," he said and immediately collapsed.

oOo

Between Tazuna, Naruto, and Sasuke they managed to carry Kakashi to the bridge builder's home. Because of the jounin's height, Tazuna ended up doing most of work and was incredibly tired at the end of their trip.

Lina was recovering from the blow and she had only stumbled a few times. At least one of those occasions was due to being in a shorter body than her own. Sakura had not said anything more but she had the sense that the other girl was sleeping which she took as a good sign since earlier she had not been feeling anything at all from the kunoichi.

Lina sat down next to Kakashi who was lying in bed recuperating from his extended Sharingan use. There were several questions preying on her mind but she needed Sakura present before asking some of them since they were related to chakra and jutsu. She chose one of her simpler queries, thinking that she could relay any relevant information to Sakura later. "What was the deal with that masked ninja? You called him a hunter-nin?"

Naruto's and Sasuke's attention turned toward the silver-haired man as he answered. "Every village has their own set of hunters that track down and kill renegade ninja. And because a ninja's body contains village secrets, such as my Sharingan eye, a hunter-nin must also dispose of the bodies so that not a trace remains."

"So that's why he took the body, to burn it later?"

Kakashi was silent for a little bit. "That's… not right," he said with a chagrined tone.

"What's not right?" Lina asked as a sinking feeling settled on her.

"Usually, a hunter-nin will dispose of the body immediately. And considering the weapon he used…" Kakashi trailed off in thought.

"Those needles," Sasuke whispered in a strangled voice.

"Right. Zabuza is probably still alive."

End of Chapter 2

oOo

**Notes:**

Oh, man. Momoka appeared again. That wasn't planned, she just popped up and demanded to be written. I think she's insane.

Regarding there being over 30 genin teams – Kabuto's info showed 87 Leaf nin in the chunin test, that means 29 teams entered the test. Seems unlikely to me that all of the teams would be able to enter a given exam. There would have to be some away on missions, injured, etc.

_hitai-ate _– forehead protector  
_zanbatou _– gigantic swords that never were actually used as weapons

_Kirigakure no Jutsu _– Hiding Mist Technique  
_Suirou no Jutsu_ – Water Prison Technique  
_Fuuma Shuriken: Kage Fuusha_ – Wind Demon Shuriken: Shadow Windmill  
_Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu_ – Water Release: Great Waterfall/Explosion Technique

L-sama – nickname for the Lord of Nightmares

_Dill Brand_ – shamanistic earth spell, causes a target area of dirt to explode upward  
_Shadow Snap_ – shamanistic spirit spell, creates a magical 'dagger' which pins a person's shadow to prevent them from moving  
_Freeze Arrow_ – shamanistic water spell, like Flare Arrow but disables rather than damages target  
_Flare Arrow_ – shamanistic fire spell, basic combat spell

Chaos Words – Not directly mentioned in the story yet but I'll discuss my usage of Chaos Words here just in case some extreme Slayers fan (such as I am) is curious. Most fan sites state that the Chaos Words are the chant (although whether they are in a magic-specific language or not is argued) performed to cast a spell. This explanation results in problems given some of the events in the anime – such as Amelia's inability to learn the Dragon Slave when she certainly heard the chant. The anime may not be true canon (the novels are the original) but the anime is what my knowledge of Slayers is based on and TRY was rather vague regarding Chaos Words. So my interpretation (almost certainly wrong) is that the Chaos Words are in some other language but are more **mental **than something said aloud. The chant corresponds to the Chaos Words in some ways but they are not interchangeable. None of this really matters but I love both reading and explaining details like this.


	4. Chapter 3: Battle on the Bridge!

"Naruto" is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. "Slayers" is the creation of Kanzaka Hajime.

Warning: This story has spoilers for certain content of Slayers, NEXT, and TRY. **(Spoilers for Slayers in this chapter.)**

Update: blond/blonde fix

**A Different Voice**

Chapter 3: Explode! Battle on the Bridge of Dreams!

Posted: 6/27/2007

Updated: 7/23/2007

Sakura awoke with a headache. She also awoke in a strange room. She pushed off the sheets covering her and looked around. The bedroll she was sleeping on was her own and she was wearing her pajamas so someone had carefully prepared her for bed. Her backpack was leaning against a wall with her long red shirt and black shorts on top of it, neatly folded. Aside from those items, the room looked like a typical bedroom. A partially opened closet door revealed a collection of women's clothing.

The last thing she could remember was the pain from being hit by Zabuza. It was unlikely that she had been captured given her condition but she still felt cautious.

_Are you awake?_ she asked Lina, getting a tired-sounding mumble in reply.

She stood and collected her clothes. The door to the room slid open, revealing a dark-haired woman.

"Good, you're up," she said. "Breakfast will be ready in just a few minutes." She deposited a stack of clothes on a dresser as Sakura fumbled for a reply.

"Oh… thanks… um…"

_**Her name is Tsunami,**_ Lina said sleepily.

"Tsunami-san," Sakura finished with relief.

The woman smiled at her and left the room.

While she dressed, Sakura questioned Lina about what had happened. Lina explained that they were at Tazuna's home. Tsunami was Tazuna's daughter and there was also a young boy named Inari who was his grandson. When Lina told her about the fake hunter-nin and Zabuza likely coming for Tazuna again, she jumped a little from fright as if expecting the missing-nin and his companion to immediately break through a wall and attack her. Kakashi thought it would take a while for Zabuza to recover but that was a vague reassurance.

Sakura followed Lina's directions through the house. She found the rest of her team seated at a table eating a traditional breakfast of rice, miso soup, and small slices of grilled fish. Lina complained halfheartedly about the small portions but she had noticed, as had Sakura, how sparsely the kitchen was stocked.

"Alright, now we are ready to begin training," Kakashi said as he leisurely finished the last of his food. Picking up his crutches, he stood and led them outside – Sakura found her sandals at the entranceway – and toward a wooded area.

_Training?_ Sakura wondered.

_**He didn't give any details last night but he wants all of you to train until Zabuza returns,**_ Lina said in response. _**I've got some suggestions of my own but we'll see what he has in store first.**_

Sakura shuddered. _What good will training be if we go up against that guy again?_

_**Kakashi said that we will do everything we can to prepare,**_ Lina said. _**We missed it but apparently Sasuke and Naruto were the ones that freed Kakashi from Zabuza's water prison; he didn't get out on his own.**_

_I knew it, Sasuke-kun is the best!_ Sakura thought giddily.

_**He also said that Naruto was the most improved.**_

Sakura frowned internally. _He would have to be considering how bad he was in the academy._

Lina made a noncommittal sound.

oOo

The genin were prepared for Kakashi's training. He had emphasized the importance of developing their skills as much as possible before the imminent return of Zabuza. He had motivated them so that they would give it their all. Now only one thing stood in their way: Naruto's idiocy.

"How can you not know what chakra is?!" Sakura yelled in frustration. "Don't you remember all the times it was covered in the academy?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, I slept through the harder classes."

"What I want to know is how he can perform Kage Bunshin without understanding chakra," came from Sasuke in a quiet yet disturbed voice.

"Naruto is the type who learns better by practice than by study," Kakashi explained. "It's still better to understand with your mind as well. So, Sakura, if you wouldn't mind?"

_Why me?_ Sakura thought with annoyance.

_**Because he'll listen to you,**_ Lina answered with a mental grin.

Sakura huffed. "Okay, Naruto. Listen to beautiful young genius kunoichi Sakura's explanation of chakra!"

Naruto stared at her with his head tilted and his eyes scrunched up. Sakura guessed that this was his 'thinking' face.

"Chakra is the fuel for a shinobi's jutsu. It is actually of combination of two other forms of energy. One is physical energy from the cells of your body. The other is spiritual energy."

_**Magic is performed solely with spiritual energy,**_ Lina explained internally.

Sakura filed the information away for later. "Your physical energy will increase as your body grows while your spirit increases through mental exercises and meditation. You combine physical and spiritual energy in your _hara_ to create chakra and then mold it using hand seals to perform a jutsu."

"A well-done explanation," Kakashi complemented her.

"I don't get all that complicated stuff," Naruto said as he turned toward Kakashi, "didn't you say I could learn it through practice?"

_He didn't listen to me after all!_ Sakura thought with exasperation.

"Naruto's right," Sasuke said, making Sakura gape at him. "We already know how to perform jutsu."

"That's true but you still aren't using chakra properly," Kakashi responded. "Just being able to release chakra isn't enough. You also need to be able to control it. With proper control you can perform any jutsu perfectly without needing to practice it specifically. That's the theory, anyway."

Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes widened at the statement.

Sakura found herself nodding in understanding. "How do we learn that kind of control?" she asked.

"Tree climbing!" Kakashi answered.

"Tree climbing?" the three genin asked doubtfully.

"Well… just watch," Kakashi said. He walked to a tree, put a foot on the bark, and then proceeded to walk up the tree – still using his crutches. He walked out on a limb upside down and stared at them as he hung there. The three young Konoha ninja stared upward in amazement. "Gather your chakra to the bottom of your feet and if you can control it well then you will be able to do this."

"How will this make us stronger?" Sasuke inquired.

"That's the beauty of this exercise. Just like chakra itself, controlling chakra has two parts. You need both the mental skill and the stamina to do so. Tree climbing will improve you in both of these areas and increase your spiritual energy at the same time."

Kakashi drew three kunai. "I'm tired of hearing myself talk so get to work," he ordered them and threw the kunai to land at their feet. "Use those to mark your progress. Oh, and I suggest you take a running start; you won't do well at first if you just try walking up a tree."

"This will be a piece of cake," Naruto shouted, "'cuz I'm the most improved!"

Sakura formed the ram seal to help gather her chakra. It wanted to dispel from her feet immediately but she kept it at her soles of her feet as she ran toward a tree. Running up the tree's trunk was fairly easy at first, though splitting her concentration between moving her legs and the chakra in her feet was not the easiest of tasks. Her concentration lapsed for a split second and the chakra began flowing out. As she slashed at the tree with her kunai, she spotted a nearby limb. Grabbing it with one hand, she let herself drop then used the momentum combined with her strength to swing herself around the branch, twisting gracefully to land on it in a seated position.

Looking down from her perch, she saw Naruto rolling on the floor of the forest with a bump on his head. The tree he had aimed for did not have a scratch on it. She was surprised to see that Sasuke's tree had a mark only about a third as high as her own.

"Looks like Sakura has the best chakra control," Kakashi commented from his spot beneath the limb.

Sakura grinned at the comment. After not being able to do anything in the two battles they had fought, she was pleased to be able to show that she was a competent ninja in some way.

"I knew you could do it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto bellowed happily.

Sasuke gave her a glance out of the corner of his eye before returning to his study of the tree in front of him.

Sakura sighed. _I was hoping Sasuke-kun would complement me,_ she mournfully thought.

"I guess Sakura's knowledge and skill puts her closest to Hokage, unlike a certain someone." Naruto stared at Kakashi indignantly. "The Uchiha clan must not be worth much either." Sasuke glared at their silver-haired sensei.

"Shut up, Kakashi-sensei!" she yelled.

_**He's just encouraging them, **_Lina said, _**in his own odd way, of course.**_

Sakura blinked, realizing that she had not heard the sorceress' voice for a number of minutes. Her other self would usually have reacted immediately to her thoughts about Sasuke. _What have you been doing?_

_**Thinking,**_ Lina replied.

_About what?_

_**The differences in my past and your present.**_

That was ambiguous enough to make Sakura curious. _Anything specific?_

_**Here people use chakra instead of using physical and spiritual energy separately.**_

_Why would you use them separately anyway? _One of the things Sakura had been wondering about since Lina had said that magic used spiritual energy was what the benefit would be of doing it that way.

_**Because of disparity between body and spirit,**_ Lina said. _**Some people have weak bodies, others have weak spirits. Seems that you need a strong body and a strong spirit to become a ninja.**_

Sakura nodded at that. There were ninety students entered into the ninja academy every year. This last year only twenty seven students had enough ability to 'graduate' and take the final genin test. A large number of the students came from the village itself but many were from outside Konoha. It was, after all, the only ninja academy in the Fire Nation. Twenty seven out of all the children her age in the nation had the potential. And only nine of those had actually become genin.

Sakura knew that people with 'weak spirits' as Lina put it often became samurai or mercenaries. But there was no place for people with 'weak bodies' as a fighter of any sort. _Did you have a weak body?_ she asked.

_**Hah! Nothing like that,**_ Lina laughed. _**It's just that I'm far better with magic. My skill with a sword isn't much above average.**_

The differences were interesting but the information was useless to the green-eyed kunoichi at the moment. Her eyes caught the motion of Kakashi slowly walking down the tree. Sasuke and Naruto were making energetic attempts at climbing their respective trees but neither was gaining much headway from their first attempt.

Sakura returned to her practice. She quickly reached the point where she did not have to concentrate so much to keep the chakra in her feet. Once she was not so fully focused on manipulating her chakra, she and Lina began discussing the exercise and chakra in general, Lina wanting to know more about exactly how to draw on physical energy and combine it with spiritual energy. Her hunger for knowledge reminded Sakura again of how similar they were, something she had not thought of since learning Lina's name. The discussion seemed to help the pink-haired genin also because by noon she found that she was no longer having any slips in her chakra control.

After eating a small lunch, the genin resumed their training. Sakura soon found herself running out of stamina. She lay with back against her tree and watched them with a small amount of envy.

_Naruto isn't improving at all,_ she thought with a smirk.

_**Neither is Sasuke.**_ Lina had her own smirk.

Sakura looked at Sasuke's tree. He was not having the same problem as Naruto but he had made almost as little progress as the blond-haired genin.

_Sasuke won't give up!_ Sakura thought dutifully. _Naruto on the other hand…_

"Damn!" Naruto exclaimed as he walked away from the tree he had been practicing on.

_I knew it!_ Sakura mentally crowed. She was surprised when Naruto hunched down in front of her.

"Hey, could you give me some tips?" Naruto whispered.

Sakura stared at the young blond, surprised that he would ask her instead of Kakashi for help. "Tips?"

"Yeah, I…" His voice faded away then took a breath and continued, "I can't get it to work." The admission caused him to squirm and look at the ground in embarrassment.

"Alright, what are you trying to do?"

Naruto's face scrunched up in thought. "Hmm… make my chakra go to my feet and stay there."

Sakura shook her head. "Well, that's the basic idea but it doesn't tell me what you're actually doing. First of all, how are you making it go to your feet?"

He tilted his head to the side. "Um… I sort of grab it and shove it down to my feet."

Naruto's description made Sakura imagine the whisker-faced boy doing some very odd things with his inner coils. _He really isn't good with words,_ she thought. Lina snickered internally at her thought. "Okay, and how are you trying to keep your chakra in your feet?"

"I dunno… just holding it there."

"Keeping it still?"

"Yeah," Naruto responded with a small smile, apparently finding comfort in being able to provide a more solid answer.

Sakura sighed with relief. This was the sort of problem she had expected. "Chakra doesn't work well when you keep it completely still," she told him. "Move it slowly but in a circle or a spiral. What worked best for me was moving it in a spiral to the center of my foot then outward to the edge and repeat."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" he said enthusiastically and gave her a brilliant smile.

"You're welcome," she murmured as he bounded back to his training.

oOo

It was only an hour later when Kakashi announced that he was returning to Tazuna's home for more rest. Sakura accompanied him since she had finished her tree climbing, leaving the two male members of Team Seven to continue.

On their way back, Lina abruptly asked her a question. _**Why do you like Sasuke?**_

Sakura was confused, thinking that Lina should already know why. _He's handsome, intelligent, and strong. What's not to like? _Lina grumbled and Sakura pressed her attack. _He's also the heir of the Uchiha clan. He's like a prince!_

Lina was suddenly very quiet. _**A prince? **_she asked.

_That's right!_ Sakura asserted.

_**So you're wanting some prince to come riding in on a white horse, scoop you up, and carry you off into the sunset?**_ Lina's voice was still quiet, unlike her normal rowdy self.

The way the sorceress said it made Sakura feel defensive. That was not exactly what she meant but… _Well, what if I do?_

_**There's no problem with it except… It. Won't. Happen. **_ Lina grated out the last three words in a hard tone.

The way she said it with absolute certainly got on Sakura's nerves. _Is the all-mighty sorceress going to claim to be able to see the future now?_ she sneered.

_**No, not the future,**_ Lina replied with a firm voice. _**I can see the past quite clearly.**_ She paused for a moment and her voice softened. _**I was once like that, wanting a prince to take me away from all my troubles.**_ Her tone regained its edge. _**I finally grew up after meeting enough princes. The sooner you wake up the better. Nobody's perfect, including Uchiha Sasuke.**_

_What's wrong with him?_ Sakura argued.

_**He's made a shell around himself to block out the rest of the world, trying to hide his anger,**_ Lina said.

_I know that! _Sakura replied crossly. _He just needs someone to bring him out of his shell._

_**So that's it! **_Lina exclaimed. _**You think he's going to magically change. He's not a prince to you, he's a frog prince! Kiss him and he'll transform into what you've always dreamed!**_ she said sarcastically.

Sakura flushed with anger and humiliation. She almost missed the fact that they had arrived at Tazuna's house. Luckily, she caught herself before walking off the pier. Kakashi eyed her curiously as she stomped to the door, slid it open with a crash, and stomped her way to the room Tsunami was sharing with her. Her actions also drew stares from the three residents of the home.

Sakura was pacing and trying to decide whether to start shouting at Lina or just ignore her completely for the next several days when the other girl spoke again. _**If you like Sasuke so much, why do you act the way you do around him?**_

Sakura stopped cold in her tracks. _What way?_

_**Do you really think of yourself as a giggly little flirt?**_

_I don't gig-!_ Sakura realized that she did have a tendency to giggle around Sasuke. _I'm not fli-! _There was something about the way Lina had said it that was causing her to become confused. _There's nothing wrong with flirting!_ she said defensively. _That's how you attract boys, in case you don't know, _she condescendingly added.

_**Is that so? **_There was amusement in Lina's voice now. _**Flirting is different than truly showing your emotions. I think you should show him the passionate and strong-willed kunoichi that you are! Stop restraining yourself so much.**_

Sakura instantly rejected Lina's advice. The only way she restrained herself around Sasuke was when she had the occasional burst of irritation from his constant ignoring of her advances. No boy wanted a girl who slugged him – aside from Naruto. And she only had to remember the earlier tree climbing to know that Sasuke was not going to be attracted by any amount of ninja skill. _It was obvious he didn't like me getting to the top before him,_ she thought dejectedly.

_**It's better than fluttering your eyelashes at him.**_

_What do you care anyway?_ Sakura grumpily said to the sorceress. _I thought you didn't like Sasuke._

_**I don't,**_ Lina said. _**But I told you before: it's your life and I want to help you. Consider keeping you honest as part of my help.**_

_If you really want to help with my relationships then tell me how to get Naruto to leave me alone,_ she thought in hopelessness.

_**Oh, that's easy, **_Lina replied flippantly. _**Ignore him; he likes attention.**_

_You don't think he __**likes**__ me yelling at him and hitting him, do you?!_ Sakura thought hysterically.

_**I don't think that, no,**_ Lina said hesitantly. _**I do think he likes your passion. And he's seen more of the real you, like when he was in that henge.**_

Sakura blinked. _What henge?_ she asked.

Lina's voice abruptly became uncertain. _**You… still hadn't figured that out?**_

_What henge?_ Sakura asked again, her voice a little louder.

_**I was sure that by now…**_

_What henge?!_ Sakura shouted as she mentally loomed over the other presence.

_**On the day teams were assigned he transformed into Sasuke and talked to you after lunch,**_ Lina quickly said. _**You're pretty good at that, **_she added after a few seconds.

Sakura was busy remembering the day. After lunch had been when she had almost kissed Sasuke. _That… was Naruto?_

_**Up until he ran off clutching his stomach.**_

_And you didn't tell me?!_

_**I was keeping silent by our agreement,**_ Lina said with a wicked smile.

Sakura's thoughts circled back around. _I… almost kissed… Naruto?!_ she thought a bit frantically.

_**Yeees,**_ Lina drawled.

_I bragged to Ino about that! It can't have been Naruto!_ Sakura objected.

_**Sorry,**_ Lina lied, her hilarity at the situation obvious.

oOo

When the pink-haired genin came out of the room it was more slowly than when she had gone in. There was a scowl on her face and the air around her seemed almost alive with rage. Kakashi and the others stayed well away.

Sakura paced at the entryway, muttering to herself. She glared at the shoes and sandals innocently sitting in the entry. She glared at Kakashi until he took his little orange book to a more quiet – or at least less glare-filled – location. She did not glare at Inari or Tsunami but then again she had not seen the little boy after one brief glimpse when she had first come out of the room. She glared at Tazuna but he was sufficiently drunk to ignore her.

Several hours later, the other two genin came back to the house for the evening meal. They froze upon seeing their female teammate.

Sakura reached forward, causing both boys to shiver, and grabbed Naruto's arm. "We have to talk," she hissed and pulled him toward another room.

Sasuke was left standing alone except for the drunken old man.

"Lovers' spat," the bridge builder said and hiccupped.

Sasuke decided that he did not want to know any more.

oOo

Sakura slammed her hapless teammate against a wall before letting go of him. "Why?!" she shouted at him, causing him to flinch.

"Why what?" he asked in panic. He looked around the room as if seeking something to help him.

"Why did you trick me with that henge?" she questioned him in a dangerous tone.

Naruto scratched his head in confusion. "What henge?"

"When you impersonated Sasuke-kun!"

"Oh, that!" he said. His face lit up in understanding and then blanched. "You know?!"

"Yes! So tell me why!" Sakura ordered.

Naruto cringed. He looked down and scuffed his bare feet against the floor. "You never would talk to me back then," he said in a small voice. "I just wanted to know what you really thought about me."

Sakura knew that he was correct. When they were in the academy, she yelled at him every time he was near. Partly because he was annoying but mostly because she did not want Sasuke getting the wrong impression from her being friendly to a boy that liked her.

Naruto looked up at her and she saw something like desperation in his eyes. "I've tried to be less annoying," he said pleadingly. "And I haven't been getting between you and Sasuke!"

That was true also. Before they had become a team Naruto would often interrupt whenever she tried to talk to Sasuke. He would talk to her while she was trying to get a response from Sasuke or he would distract the other boy. Unhappily for her, he was quite skilled at getting the taller boy's attention. Now he usually waited for her conversations with Sasuke to end – in rejection – before he approached her.

Sakura knew that a variety of expressions were crossing her face. She was still angry with the blond but it was hard to hold onto her anger when it was obvious how hard he was trying to please her. She was embarrassed by the knowledge that she had almost kissed him and grateful that he had kept it secret even though he liked to brag; Ino would certainly have heard of it if anyone knew and she would not have passed up the opportunity to get back at her pink-haired rival.

"Just… just don't do it again, okay?" Sakura said.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

Sakura grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled the shorter boy close. "And don't you dare tell anyone," she said in a fierce whisper. Naruto grinned awkwardly and nodded some more.

"Are you going to kiss?" a bored voice said.

Sakura and Naruto turned their heads toward the door and saw Inari standing there watching them disinterestedly.

Sakura looked back at Naruto and realized that their noses were almost touching. Naruto was blushing heavily and rubbing the back of his head. Sakura shoved him away, shouted "No!" and left before either of the boys could see her own blush.

Lina snickered inside of her.

oOo

The next day was a Sunday. Kakashi had informed her that she would be guarding Tazuna while the other two genin continued training. She did not think it was fair but she accepted his explanation that they would benefit more since she had already completed the exercise.

Tazuna's crew would not begin working again until tomorrow and so she mostly sat around with nothing to do while the civil engineer was busy with paperwork of some sort.

Lina had been snickering occasionally all day and it was getting on Sakura's nerves.

_Enough already, what are you finding so funny?_ Sakura asked.

_**Your 'talk' with Naruto. Right after I told you to ignore him,**_ Lina said. This time she chuckled which Sakura did not appreciate any more.

Sakura sighed. _I suppose he thinks we're growing closer,_ she thought in misery. _Let's talk about something else._

_**Such as?**_

_How about you,_ Sakura thought with a bit of glee. _See how you like it with the shoe on the other foot!_

Lina shrugged inside her mind. _**What do you want to know?**_

Sakura thought for a few moments. _Well, you know about my childhood, why don't you tell me about yours?_

_**Hmm… my parents were a retired mercenary and sorceress…**_

_Retired?_

_**They decided to become merchants.**_

That sounded somewhat similar to the kunoichi's own parents. They were chuunin who had retired from mission duty and worked as administrators in the Hokage's tower. _When did you learn magic?_

_**I started learning when I was eight. I left home when I was twelve to study at the sorcerer's academy. I graduated a year later-**_

_You graduated in a year?!_ Sakura exclaimed, interrupting Lina.

_**I already had a lot of training,**_ Lina reminded. _**The year of study was mostly a formality. After the academy I ran around hunting bandits for the next year then met my first… partner.**_ Lina's voice had become very reluctant toward the end of her speech.

Sakura had the sense that there was something wrong with the 'partner' that Lina mentioned. _What was your partner like?_ she asked inquisitively.

_**Naga was a freak,**_ Lina said bluntly. _**That's all I'm going to say about her. We eventually went our separate ways and I met… several other people. We became a team of sorts.**_

Sakura read between the lines of what Lina was saying. _You met a guy you liked?_

Lina blushed but did not deny it. _**Yeah, I met Gourry.**_

_Did he like you also?_ Sakura's question was a bit sad as she thought of her one-sided attraction to Sasuke.

_**He did, **_Lina answered as her mental blush grew. _**He-**_

_What?_ Sakura asked after a few seconds of silence.

_**I know that he told me he loved me,**_ Lina said slowly, _**but I can't remember when.**_

_How could you forget something like that?!_ Sakura cried in outrage. She knew that Sasuke admitting his love would be a moment should would not forget in a million years.

_**That's what I'd like to know,**_ Lina groused.

Sakura was aware that Lina was starting to brood about her memory loss. _Tell me what he was like, _she said to distract the other girl._  
_

_**Hm? Oh, Gourry? **_Lina said absentmindedly._** He had blond hair and blue eyes.**_

_Why does this sound familiar?_ Sakura muttered.

_**He was tall, one of the best swordsmen I've ever met, and…**_

_And?_ Sakura encouraged her to continue.

_**A complete idiot.**_

_What?! _Sakura responded with shock.

Lina laughed lightly. _**He had a horrible memory.**_

_If that's the kind of guy you like,_ Sakura said, _no wonder you like Naruto more than Sasuke._

_**Whatever,**_ Lina grumbled. _**Gourry and I and a couple of others traveled around beating up bad guys, eating food, and saving the world.**_

_You saved the world?_ Sakura asked in awe, knowing that what Lina had said was the truth.

_**I didn't mean to!**_was the unexpected reply.

_What? _Sakura asked, feeling baffled.

_**I mean, I would have preferred to avoid being in those situations,**_ the sorceress clarified. _**It's not fun to have the fate of the world riding on your shoulders.**_

_I guess you must be really powerful,_ Sakura whispered jealously.

_**I'm the best!**_ Lina replied proudly.

_Can you teach me?_ Sakura begged.

Lina was surprised at the question. _**I can certainly try,**_ she answered. Lina pondered where to begin. _**First to explain how spells work, **_she said with a chipper voice.

_Right!_ Sakura thought back. She entered her studying frame of mind and concentrated on what Lina said.

_**Spells have three components: the name, the chant, and the Chaos Words.**_

_Chaos Words?_ Sakura queried.

_**I'll get back to that, **_Lina said. _**All three components actually have the same purpose: to help a human manipulate their spirit using their will. Like how hand seals are used to mold chakra. **_

Sakura nodded to let Lina know she was following the explanation.

_**Chaos Words are the secret language of magic,**_ the sorceress said. _**The mental counterpart of the chant. They are the most effective way of manipulating spirit and the name of the spell is the least effective. To cast very powerful spells, a sorcerer must have all three.**_

_So you don't always have to use all three? _Sakura inquired.

_**It depends on the sorcerer's skill and the difficulty of the spell,**_ Lina answered. _**I often use just the Chaos Words and the name. Some of my spells aren't at full power without the chant, though.**_

_Seems like that would be faster,_ Sakura commented. _But you were chanting when we fought Zabuza._

_**Yes, I noticed that my control isn't as good I remember.**_ Lina contemplated her problem for a moment. _**My guess is because it's your spirit that I'm using. I don't have much experience casting spells with your spirit.**_

The metaphysical complications of having two minds inside one body threatened to give Sakura a headache.

_**Let's move on to actually testing you. The normal way to begin teaching is to demonstrate an easy spell, showing the desired result and providing the name and chant.**_ Lina nudged Sakura in some way and Sakura let their minds switch positions.

Lina looked around but Tazuna was the only person present and he was rummaging though a stack of papers. She shrugged, deciding that it would not matter even if he saw what they were doing.

She held up her right hand, palm up, and quietly chanted, "Light of life, brighter than flame. Let thy power gather in my hand. **Lighting.**"

A ball of pure white light appeared, floating calmly above her hand. The light cast from the orb was hardly noticeable in the daylight. Lina closed her fist and the ball of light disappeared. _**Now you try it.**_

Sakura took control of her body. Now that she was to the point of actually trying magic, she was feeling reluctant. On the other hand, Lina had made it look easy enough.

The pink-haired girl held up her hand. "Light of life," she whispered, "brighter than flame. Let thy power gather in my hand."

Lina internally rubbed her hands in anticipation.

"**Lighting!**" Sakura said at last, a little louder than she intended. She was suddenly very tired, similar to how she had been after she finished climbing trees the day before. But there, resting just above her palm, was a ball of light.

_Whew. That took a lot more out of me than I thought it would, _she thought. The other presence in her mind said nothing. _It worked though!_ she reflected cheerfully. Lina still made no response. _What's wrong?_ she asked, mentally prodding Lina.

_**It's pink,**_ came the flat response.

Sakura looked at the glowing sphere. Where Lina's had been white, hers was a pleasant pink color. _Neat!_

_**No. It's pink,**_ Lina said again.

_Is that bad? _she asked worriedly.

_**It's pink! **_shouted Lina.

Sakura felt her eye twitch. _I know it's pink. So is my hair. What-_ She started to ask what the color meant but Lina interrupted her.

_**Don't remind me!**_ Lina snarled, apparently unhappy with the mention of her hair.

_What's wrong with pink?!_ Sakura demanded.

_**I don't want to talk about it!**_ Lina replied and fell silent.

Sakura growled and closed her hand, causing the pink orb of magic to disperse. Tazuna was still looking through his papers. She crossed her arms and studiously ignored her inner sorceress.

oOo

Kakashi scratched his head. He had been exercising by walking around outside when he heard someone yell. Looking through a window he had seen one of his students holding a pink ball of light in her hand.

It was not a genjutsu. He was not about to use his Sharingan again so soon but he was good at identifying illusions even without that aid. It was not a ninjutsu that he was familiar with. There were techniques for creating light but they were Fire element techniques and typically created a bright flame, not a calm-looking sphere like Sakura had apparently produced. Some sort of Raiton jutsu might be able to make such a thing but no one in Konoha should know how to do a jutsu like that. Besides, what sort of Lightning jutsu would be pink?

Most perplexing was that he could not feel any chakra being emitted. He was sensitive enough that at this distance he should be able to at least feel whatever she was doing.

He was again considering using his Sharingan when the choice was taken from him. The girl made a fist and the jutsu vanished. She was facing away from him but he saw her body stiffen as she crossed her arms.

Her erratic emotions were another troubling issue. She would be happy one minute and then incredibly angry the next. Iruka had mentioned how swiftly her attitude changed but he had indicated that it depended on who she was interacting with. Now she was changing moods just sitting by herself.

He sighed and walked away, making a mental note to thank Sarutobi for giving him the three most difficult genin in the village.

oOo

On Monday, Sakura escorted Tazuna to the bridge he was constructing. She and Lina were talking again, but Lina still refused to explain her reaction to the color. The sorceress told her that it was expected for people learning magic to produce a Lighting with a hue rather than pure white and that the color itself did not mean anything. Sakura swore to herself that she would find out why pink set the other girl off.

Sakura's extreme fatigue from casting the spell worried Lina, however, and she recommended not trying any other spells until they discovered the cause.

Sakura once again found herself bored while guarding Tazuna. Lina asked to take over her body, saying that she wanted to perform some magical training. Sakura decided to allow her to do so; she found learning about magic to be as interesting as learning about chakra.

She did not expect Lina's training to consist of speaking aloud some very childish-sounding rhymes. Lina explained that chant speed and elucidation were important to a sorcerer; the rhymes were the magical equivalent of tongue-twisters. It was informative but did not make listening to the sorceress any more enjoyable. They were also getting odd looks from the construction workers. Although, that might have been from the idea of a cute twelve-year old standing guard.

One of the workers began complaining about the danger they were in and Tazuna decided to quit for the day. Then she escorted him into the village to buy some food. The town was far smaller than her home and the differences caught her attention. The buildings all appeared to be either old or very haphazardly constructed. There were no pristine buildings.

It was not until they reached the market place that she started looking at the people. Almost all of them were shabbily dressed. Sakura had thought Tazuna's clothes were worn but Tsunami took care in keeping them mended. In comparison, what many of the residents of the town wore was little better than rags. The faces were the most telling, however. Nearly everyone she saw had a look of hopelessness.

As they walked back to Tazuna's house, the bridge builder described how the town had deteriorated since Gatou's arrival in the Land of Waves. And how his hopes rested in the completion of the bridge.

Sakura's reaction to Tazuna's story was a desperate wish that Team Seven would be able to protect the old man from Zabuza and Gatou. Lina seemed a bit disdainful of the people who had already given up but she said she would not mind throwing a Fireball or two at Gatou if they ever met him.

Sakura helped Tsunami by setting the table, though she griped a little to Kakashi about the sexist treatment. She knew that silver-haired jounin was still recovering but with the two boys on her team training she was feeling demeaned.

Sasuke and Naruto arrived about the same time as Tsunami finished preparing the food. Naruto was boasting that he had surpassed Sasuke in tree climbing – which the black-haired genin scoffed at – when they sat down to eat. Sakura calmly ate her meal while the two other genin devoured their food as quickly as possible.

"More!" shouted the two boys before turning their heads toward the floor and losing a good portion of what they had eaten.

"Quit wasting food!" Sakura and Lina both shouted. For a moment, she felt strange. She was not sure whether it had just been one voice that had yelled or two. Then the moment passed and they felt normal again – or as normal as the two girls ever were.

"I have to eat," Sasuke declared.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "we need our energy to become stronger."

_**After I go through the trouble of letting you enjoy the meal so we don't eat so much! **_Lina complained to Sakura, annoyed at them for eating more than she was. Sakura ignored Lina's food-related rant.

"Just eat more slowly, idiots," Sakura chided, annoyed at them for eating excessively when food was so scarce in the town. Sasuke and Naruto resumed eating at a more reasonable pace.

"There's no point," Inari said glumly.

Sasuke ignored the younger boy and Naruto scowled at him between bites. Lina rolled her eyes inside Sakura's mind. _**He's said that before, **_she commented.

Inari's attention was not on the genin, Sakura noticed. Instead he was looking at a torn photograph hanging on a wall.

"What's that picture you're looking at, Inari-kun?" Sakura asked as she studied the photograph from where she was sitting. "Looks like it was ripped by someone."

Inari and Tsunami stiffened at her words. Tazuna sighed. "It once held the face of the man called the hero of the city," the bridge builder said.

Inari pushed away from the table and left without a word.

"Inari?" his mother called after him. She rounded on Tazuna. "I told you not to mention that man in front of him!" she said angrily. She left also, slamming the door on her way out, leaving Team Seven alone with the old engineer.

Sakura fidgeted, uncomfortable at causing such a scene. Sasuke stopped eating. Naruto pushed his bowl to the side and rested his head on the table.

"I suppose you want an explanation," Tazuna muttered.

Kakashi looked at the old man and stroked his chin over his mask. Sakura noticed his eye dart toward Naruto and then back to the bridge builder. "It might help," he responded.

"Inari had a father," Tazuna said. "Even though they weren't related by blood, they were as close as any real father and son."

Naruto perked up at hearing that. His squinting eyes opened and he looked intently at Tazuna.

"Kaiza became part of our family. Then he saved the town during a flood and was called a hero. Inari was so happy and proud." Tazuna's voice faded away.

"What happened?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Gatou came. Kaiza spoke out against Gatou and he was publicly executed. Hope and courage died that day in our town and everyone began to change. Inari most of all." The tale seemed to have tired Tazuna. When he fell silent this time, Sakura was certain that he had said all he could.

Naruto stood up and Sakura saw a determined look on his face. He began walking toward the entryway to the house.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked him just as he tripped and fell to the floor.

"You shouldn't train any more today. You've used too much chakra," Kakashi told the blond.

Naruto lifted himself from the floor. "I'm going to prove that heroes exists in this world," he stated resolutely. He opened the sliding door and walked out.

A moment later Sasuke rose to his feet. Sakura noticed a small grin on his face. The Uchiha heir followed Naruto, closing the door behind him.

Kakashi made no move to stop them aside from his one comment.

_**He really is an interesting kid,**_ Lina said thoughtfully.

Sakura frowned at the sorceress. _You really do like him, don't you?_ she asked.

Lina snorted. _**Okay!**_ she shouted, making Sakura jump. _**Let's find Kakashi and ask him about some training ideas that I have.**_

Sakura blinked and was about to respond that Kakashi was in the room when she realized that he had stealthily vanished at some point. She found him in the bedroom that the male Konoha shinobi were sharing. He was performing stretching exercises, slowly working all of his joints and muscles.

"Can I talk to you for a bit, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi eyed her lazily, his one visible eye in its normal drooping state. "Of course," he replied.

Sakura sat down. _What is it you want to ask him about?_ she questioned Lina.

_**First, ask him about bunshin.**_

Sakura nodded in understanding, not realizing that she was making the motion with her body. "How do you tell bunshin apart from the real person?"

"Look for discrepancies," Kakashi said. "The clues can be anything: appearance, voice, mannerisms. You should already know the basics." Kakashi held his left elbow with his right hand, pulled it behind his head as he leaned to the right, and held it for a several seconds.

Sakura sighed. "I do but my knowledge was useless against Zabuza. I couldn't see any defects in his clones."

"Zabuza is particularly skilled. It's very difficult to fool me with a clone – especially when I'm using the Sharingan – but he managed it." Kakashi switched to his other arm, repeating the process.

_I guess that was sort of a dead end,_ she thought.

_**Maybe,**_ Lina responded. _**Next, ask him about speed training.**_

Sakura blinked and tilted her head to the side, considering Lina's suggestion. Improved speed would certainly appeal to the sorceress. Being able to avoid blows and quickly get distance to cast a spell would be ideal. "Can you teach me how to move faster?"

Kakashi stood on his right leg and brought his left foot upward behind him, grabbing the heel with his right hand. He studied her for a second. "Focusing your chakra in the appropriate muscles in your legs will increase their strength and allow you to move more quickly. Similarly for the muscles in your arms. You natural arm speed appears to be very high from what I saw in the fight with Zabuza," he said, referring to the thrown kunai, "so that might be optimal for you to practice."

Sakura cringed a little at the praise from the jounin. That had been Lina's doing, not hers.

_**I just used your body,**_ Lina protested.

Sakura did not think she could have done as well, regardless of what Lina said. "What about increasing perception speed? Being able to follow fast movements?"

"That will require training," Kakashi said. He was now turning his body at his waist, making it a little awkward to speak to him because his head was turned away from her.

Sakura frowned. "Can't you focus your chakra in your eyes?"

Kakashi stopped stretching and sat down opposite from her. "Eyes are too fragile for the amount of chakra it takes to improve them significantly. That's one reason Bloodline Limits that improve sight such as the Sharingan are considered so valuable." Kakashi tapped his forehead protector, directly over his eye.

"What sort of training do you suggest?"

Kakashi's eye crinkled up as he smiled. "Shuriken are really fun, don't you think?"

oOo

Sakura groaned as her eyes tracked one of the shuriken into the water where it landed with a small 'plop.' Thankfully, the other three shuriken had struck the dock's supports.

Kakashi's wonderful idea of speed training was for him to throw a shuriken and for her to deflect it by throwing one of her own. He 'encouraged' her to improve quickly by throwing the shuriken straight at her rather than a safer target. Naturally, they were doing this on one of the little docks near Tazuna's house, meaning that the shuriken often went spinning into the water. The lazy jounin had called it more 'encouragement' for her to improve her accuracy.

"Oh, too bad," Kakashi said.

Sakura glared at the silver-haired man and he returned the expression with one of his typical smiles. She walked to the edge of the dock and dropped into the water, keeping the location where the shuriken had entered the water firmly in her mind.

Kakashi was training her this way every day after she returned from guarding Tazuna at the bridge until Naruto and Sasuke arrived late at night for their supper. The first day of training had certainly been the worst. Especially once she realized that he intended to continue after the sun set. She did not know which was worse: having deadly weapons thrown at her at high speed in the negligible light of the small lamp Kakashi sat beside him or trying to find the throwing stars in the dark water. She had soon learned to pay close attention to where the shuriken went after being deflected.

Sakura swam toward where she expected the shuriken and found it quickly this time. One good thing was that the bottom was sand rather than rock or muck as found in most lakes. She swam back to the dock and climbed up the attached ladder. She was wearing a pink two-piece that she had found in her backpack. She could not remember packing it so it was likely her mother's doing. It was a fortuitous circumstance even if the color sent Lina into a fit.

However much she disliked his methods, she could not deny the results. It had been close to a week since they had arrived at the town and she was now accustomed to using her chakra to increase her speed, particularly in her arms, and her confidence had improved as well.

"Ready?" Kakashi asked, holding another pair of shuriken between the fingers of his left hand. He was still using a crutch when he stood for any length of time and it was tucked firmly under his right armpit.

Sakura pulled a wet strand of hair out of her face. She bent down and picked up another shuriken from her holster which was laying on the wooden pier. "Yes," she said through gritted teeth and prepared to throw.

His arm blurred, propelling his hand that held the throwing stars out from his body in a straight line, and she mimicked him. The two shuriken she launched once again successfully intercepted his and once again one of them flew into the water and she was forced to repeat the retrieval process.

She was just getting her feet back on the dock, one hand holding the dripping shuriken, when Kakashi shouted, "Sakura!"

Her eyes snapped toward the jounin. This time she did not see Kakashi move at all. A single shuriken simply appeared in the air speeding toward her. Her body reacted before she had time to fully understand and her own shuriken clanged against Kakashi's; she winced at the sound. Both shuriken spun outward into the water.

"What was that for?!" Sakura shouted at Kakashi.

_**That was much faster than before,**_ Lina commented.

Kakashi was nodding to himself. "As I thought. Your reaction time is much better when you don't think too much."

"What good does that do me?" the pink-haired genin complained. Lina mentally rolled her eyes.

"You don't seem to understand," Kakashi said patiently. "I threw that shuriken at my full speed. There are only a handful of people in Konoha who could have deflected it the way you did."

Sakura blanched. "And what if I hadn't been fast enough?" she asked in a horrified tone.

Kakashi smiled as he held up his hand. He twitched a finger and there was a splash. The shuriken flew back to his hand and he caught it. "Chakra string," explained the happy jounin.

Sakura was silent for a moment. "You could have done that at any time, couldn't you?" she asked resentfully. Inside her, Lina chuckled in appreciation at Kakashi's ruse.

Kakashi ignored her question. "The point is," he said, "that you need to learn to trust your instincts. It's important for any ninja. Perhaps even more so for an intellectual such as you are, Sakura." He laid a hand on her shoulder and led her back toward Tazuna's house. "My part in your training is done, the rest is up to you."

_Trust my instincts, huh?_ Sakura contemplated.

_**It's good advice,**_ Lina said.

Every time Sakura stopped to think about the presence of Lina in her mind it caused her to become anxious. Logically, there were so many problems in sharing your body with another being. Her instincts in contrast told her that she could trust the sorceress implicitly. They did not always agree but she was certain that Lina would not purposely cause her harm.

Sakura felt the remnants of her worries about her inner voice disappear. She gave Kakashi a bright smile. "Thanks for the advice."

oOo

The next morning found Kakashi and Sakura searching for the two other members of Team Seven.

"All that talk about needing to eat and here Naruto is skipping breakfast!" Sakura complained. "And Sasuke went walking L-sama knows where," she added with a pout.

The now-familiar sound of a blade cutting through the air reached Sakura's ears and she quickly drew and released her kunai. The two weapons met and bounced off each other, falling to land near her. Sakura looked up and saw Naruto laying on a high branch. His face had a surprised look which quickly changed into a grin.

_He's made it that high?_ she thought in surprise.

"Look how high I can climb!" Naruto shouted down. "Ain't I great?!" He stood and one of his feet slipped out from under him. Sakura's eyes widened as she watched his body start to tumble backwards.

Kakashi cursed. "If you fall from that height-!"

Naruto screamed in fright.

Sakura focused her chakra in her arms and legs. Diving forward, she grabbed a kunai from the ground and threw it upward. It landed solidly in the tree limb, pinning the fabric of Naruto's orange jumpsuit near the end of the leg. Sakura panted lightly from the sudden effort.

"What'd you do that for, Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined. He flapped his arms comically.

"You were about to fall, jellyfish-for-brains!" Sakura yelled.

"It was just a joke," the blond said. Sakura noticed that even though he upside down, one of his feet was firmly planted on the underside of the tree limb. He was having more trouble with his other foot because of the kunai holding his leg close to the limb. "What do jellyfish have to do with anything?" He bent his body and reached upward to grab the kunai.

"Be careful, Naruto," Kakashi called out.

_**That's what I used to call Gourry,**_ Lina told Sakura.

The pink-haired girl's eye twitched in response. She definitely did not want to use the sorceress' pet name. "You're right! I should call you ramen-for-brains instead!" she shouted back. _After all, that's the only thing he ever thinks about,_ she thought.

Lina laughed inside her mind.

Naruto grunted with effort and the kunai came free. So did Naruto's other foot. He began falling again.

"Stop showing off!" Sakura shouted at the other genin.

_**I think it's for real this time!**_ Lina thought. She took control of Sakura's body and began chanting, casting a spell to cushion his fall. "Wind which blows-"

Sasuke jumped into Lina's vision, adroitly sticking to the branch that Naruto fell from as he grabbed Naruto's leg.

Kakashi sighed with relief.

"Idiot," Sasuke said.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said in surprise.

_I knew Sasuke was better than Naruto!_ Sakura thought with vindication. "You're the best, Sasuke-kun!" she praised her crush.

Sasuke glared down at her, making her flinch.

After the boys were back on ground level, Team Seven walked to Tazuna's home for breakfast. Sasuke and Naruto soon left for more training and Sakura found herself stuck with Tazuna and Kakashi.

The silver-haired jounin was currently sitting at the dinner table and staring at her. His stare made her think that he would be drumming his fingers on the table if he had such a habit. "'Wind which blows,'" he said.

_**Ack!**_ yelped Lina.

"What?" Sakura asked, not immediately recognizing the words.

"Something you said earlier: 'Wind which blows.'" Kakashi paused and closed his eye. "What were you planning to do when Naruto was falling?"

_What am I supposed to tell him? _Sakura thought frantically.

_**Why are you asking me? **_Lina responded.

_Because it's your fault!_ Sakura retorted.

Kakashi opened his eye and resumed his lidded stare.

Sakura giggled nervously. "I… I don't know," she lied. Sweat rolled down her face.

Kakashi scratched his head in contemplation for a minute. "Well… when you do know, tell me," he finally said. He stood and went to another room to continue reconditioning his body.

_Sooner or later, we'll have to give him some explanation,_ Sakura thought with trepidation.

oOo

There was an odd feeling in the air as they approached the mostly-completed bridge. Last night, Kakashi had informed them that all of Team Seven would be guarding Tazuna from now on. Naruto had trained too much the previous day and was still sleeping heavily but Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke were prepared. It appeared that their preparation would be needed because when they arrived at the bridge they found the workers stretched out of the ground. They were alive but beaten and bloody.

Fog rolled in on them and Sakura immediate recognized the silent killing technique that Zabuza used before.

"Here they come!" Kakashi shouted.

Sakura felt Lina ready herself mentally for battle. _Alright_, she thought to her other half,_ tell me what to do._

_**What? **_Lina said in shock.

_You do have more experience than I do,_ Sakura admitted. _I'll follow your directions in this battle. I trust you._

_**Thanks,**_ Lina replied quietly.

_But don't expect me to be like this forever. I'll catch up to you and show that I can save the world in my own way,_ the kunoichi taunted.

_**I wouldn't have it any other way.**_ Lina grinned internally. _**Get ready to show your speed. If we can't see them coming then it's up to you to dodge the first attacks.**_

Sakura drew a kunai with her left hand and fingered three shuriken with her right.

"So we meet again," Zabuza's said, his position hidden by the mist. "I see that boy you have with you is still shaking. Poor thing."

Half a dozen copies of Zabuza appeared around Team Seven and Tazuna.

_Considering the way he fought before, they're probably all bunshin,_ Sakura thought.

_**I agree.**_

"I'm shaking from excitement," Sasuke declared.

One of the Zabuza clones snorted in disgust.

"Go for it," Kakashi commanded.

Sasuke's form blurred as he moved in a circle, striking at the mizu bunshin with his kunai.

As fast as Sasuke was, Sakura was faster. Three of the water clones had been punctured by her throwing stars before Sasuke had reached his second target.

The six mizu bunshin were turned into puddles of water, Sakura and Sasuke each 'killing' three of them.

"Looks like you haven't been idle," Zabuza commented as he and his masked companion stepped close enough to be seen through the obscuring streams of vapor.

"You shouldn't underestimate them," Kakashi said. "Sasuke is the number-one rookie, Sakura is the swiftest – mentally and physically – rookie in the village, and our missing comrade is the most hyperactive, loud, and unpredictable ninja in the world."

Sakura blushed from the complement. Sasuke put a small smirk on his face.

_**And he didn't mention me,**_ Lina said in mock hurt. Sakura found her blush receding and a wicked grin forming.

"Let me fight those two," the masked boy said.

Zabuza looked down at his shorter companion. "Hmph," the missing-nin snorted. "Do as you want, Haku."

"Stay beside me," Kakashi told Tazuna, pulling him away from the two genin.

The younger enemy ninja, apparently named Haku, vanished in a blurring spin. He reappeared next to Sasuke, striking at the young Uchiha with the senbon held in his hand. Sasuke blocked the strike with his kunai.

At the same time as Haku swung at Sasuke, his other hand flicked another of his senbon in Sakura's direction. She deflected the needle with her kunai and tossed a pair of shuriken toward him. The masked ninja ducked to avoid the shuriken and went for a low attack against Sasuke. The black-haired genin jumped to avoid blow. Haku changed his movement into an upward strike against Sasuke while the other boy was in the air. Sakura threw her kunai at the masked boy, forcing him to dodge backward before he could hit Sasuke. Sasuke threw his own shuriken but Haku circled around him, placing himself between Sakura and Sasuke. This time their enemy struck directly at Sakura and she barely had time to pull another kunai from her holster.

They continued to trade blows and counters and as the fight progressed, Sakura realized that she and Sasuke had two problems. First, they were not accustomed to fighting together. Haku quickly became aware of this and positioned himself to make it more difficult for them, either sticking close to her to prevent her from using her fast throwing skills or putting himself between the two of them so that she could throw not risk for fear of hitting Sasuke. Second, he was faster than either of them. It was a slight difference but it gave him enough of an edge to keep them on the defensive.

"I have two advantages," the young masked ninja said, echoing Sakura's thoughts. "The water surrounding us and your lack of coordination."

_The water?_ Sakura took a look around and saw the puddles that remained from the destroyed mizu bunshin. She and Sasuke were almost at the center of a watery circle on the bridge. _Surrounding us,_ she mentally whispered.

_**Switch!**_ Lina said emphatically. The transition seemed more smooth than it ever had been before and Sakura found herself no longer in control.

Haku began making hand seals with a single hand as he pressed an attack against Sasuke.

"Wind which blows across eternity," Lina chanted. Sakura noticed that the chant came out of her mouth much quicker than in the previous battle.

The water on the ground began to rise into the air and form into jagged shards of ice, the sharp ends pointed inward toward the Konoha genin.

"Gather around me and become my defense," the sorceress continued.

Sasuke looked back at the reciting girl in panic. "Sakura!" he shouted and jumped at her.

"**Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou!**" Haku called out.

"**Windy Shield!**" Lina shouted and threw her hands outward just as Sasuke reached her. Haku jumped away and the ice needles rushed toward them. The jutsu crashed against a translucent blue sphere that appeared around the pair as Lina's magic solidified the air molecules.

Sasuke looked at Lina in surprise. Lina grinned at him. "Let's get serious," she said and gave him a wink.

Sasuke grinned back and Lina felt him begin to gather chakra in his legs. Sakura slipped back into domination and copied him. The shield spell faded away.

Sasuke and Sakura charged at Haku from two different angles. Haku dodged Sakura's first thrown kunai. Unready for Sasuke's strike, the masked boy was forced to bend backwards when the Uchiha genin flicked his wrist and hurled his kunai backward. Haku's speed was not quite fast enough to cleanly avoid the knife and his mask was scratched along its length. Now completely off balance, he had no chance to dodge the incoming the feet of Sasuke and Sakura. The twin kicks hit him at the same time and sent him flying backwards. He landed on his back at Zabuza's feet.

"Strange jutsu that girl has," the missing-nin from the Hidden Mist commented.

"Mmm," the jounin instructor for Team Seven said in semi-agreement.

"But if it's special techniques you want," Zabuza said with a grin in his voice.

Haku stood. "**Hijutsu: Makyou Hyou Shou!**" he shouted.

Water once again rose from the surface of the bridge. This time as it froze it was shaped into thin rectangles. Sheets of ice encircled Sasuke and Sakura and some formed above them as well, making a dome-like enclosure.

The ice user stepped forward and into one of the sheets of ice. His image instantly appeared on the inward side of all of the panes of ice.

"Now, I'll show you my real speed," Haku said. His voice came from all of the images at once.

All Sakura could see was a dark streak as Haku ripped into her with his senbon. She covered her face to protect it as she cried out in pain. She heard a lower pitched echo of her cry come from Sasuke.

Sakura collapsed in pain, wondering when the attack would end. Lina snarled in frustration, knowing that if Sakura could not dodge the Haku's blows then she would have no chance.

The air was suddenly filled with smoke and the strikes ceased.

"Uzumaki Naruto arrives to save the day!" Naruto exclaimed in as loud a voice as Sakura had ever heard.

Sakura looked up to find the orange-clad shinobi standing inside the ice jutsu between Sakura and Sasuke. She winced in pain from the slight movement.

"Why did you come inside the mirrors, you utter moron!" Sasuke shouted at his male teammate.

"I have to save you and Sakura-chan!" Naruto explained.

"I can't believe you!" the black-haired genin shouted in aggravation.

Haku looked at the genin trapped within his jutsu. "I do not wish to kill you. Will you not concede?"

"I won't die here," Naruto said with conviction. "I have a dream to fulfill."

"You have your dreams and I have my own," the masked ninja responded. "I wish to protect a precious person. For the sake of my dreams, I can kill my heart and become a true shinobi. For the sake of my dreams, I can kill you."

Lina stood up, attracting the boys' attention. She belatedly realized that she had taken over Sakura's body again. "Let's find out if ice can melt," the sorceress said.

Sasuke smirked. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Naruto!" Lina called. The blue-eyed boy looked at her. "Give us some cover," she said.

Naruto looked confused for a moment and then he grinned. He formed a cross-shaped seal with his fingers. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" A dozen shadow clones popped into existence around Sasuke and Lina.

"Source of all power," Lina began her spell's chant.

Sasuke hands flashed through several seals.

Haku's image darted from mirror to mirror, launching senbon toward the young members of Team Seven. The attack tore through Naruto's bunshin. The shadow clones did their job, however, and prevented him from striking at Sasuke and Lina.

"Flame which burns beyond crimson."

"**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!**" Sasuke took a deep breath and then spat out a stream of fire which quickly formed a massive ball of flame in front of him. Some water dripped from the sheets of ice that were hit by the technique but the mirrors remained intact.

"**Flare Arrow!**" Lina swept her arm in an arc, releasing four arrow-shaped bolts of glowing red energy. Each of the flare arrows struck a pane of ice and melted through it, leaving a small hole. The reflections of Haku disappeared from the four mirrors that were pierced.

Their opponent immediately began another volley of needles.

_**No time for a spell, Sakura!**_ Lina yelled.

Sakura grasped three shuriken with each of her hands. She tossed them outward, deflecting some of the senbon aimed at her. Two still hit her, one in her shoulder and one in her leg. Sasuke managed to dodge some of the senbon while Naruto was punctured by almost all that had been directed towards him. Sakura noticed that Naruto was having difficulty moving.

_He's not able to attack from the mirrors that you burned through,_ Sakura noted to Lina. _That's created a more defensible position._ Sakura was also aware of the mist outside the ice jutsu thickening but she could not spare any attention for what might be happening beyond the panes of ice.

_**Get us over there and I'll destroy more of them,**_ Lina said.

The pink-haired kunoichi leapt forward, grabbed Naruto by the back of his jumpsuit, and dragged him toward the ruined mirrors. "Again!" she ordered the blond-haired genin.

Naruto nodded and formed his hand seal. He grit his teeth in pain. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" he cried.

To Sakura's surprise, more clones appeared this time. A full twenty kage bunshin now surrounded her and the real Naruto.

_**Time for a bigger spell,**_ Lina thought with determination. "Source of all power." Lina cupped her hands in front of her.

Another round of needles destroyed eleven of Naruto's clones.

"Flame which burns beyond crimson," Lina said as the Chaos Words of the familiar spell flowed through her mind. A red glow began growing between the palms of her hands. Lina instinctively closed her eyes in concentration. Motes of fire emerged from the air around her and spiraled inward toward the enlarging spell.

Naruto's remaining bunshin jumped to attack Haku's ice mirrors but were cut down by the masked boy.

"Let thy power gather in my hand." Lina's eyes snapped open as she completed the spell. "**Fireball!**" she shouted. Lina pushed the pulsating red sphere from her hands toward the floating sheet of ice furthest away from her. The explosion knocked Lina, Sasuke, and Naruto off their feet.

Four of the ice mirrors evaporated from the heat and several more shattered from the concussive force of the spell, leaving a gaping hole in the jutsu.

Sakura smiled as she stood, not noticing Haku's image flicker into the pane of ice behind her as the hole from Lina's Flare Arrow mended. She found herself shoved roughly down to the ground.

Looking up, Sakura caught sight of two red eyes with _tomoe_ slowly rotating around the pupils. Sasuke's eyes turned back to their normal black and she became aware of the multitude of senbon piercing his body.

Sakura's voice caught in her throat as she watched the black-haired genin's body slowly crumple.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, catching Sasuke before he hit the ground.

"You have to protect her better, dumbass," Sasuke said faintly.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shrieked. She grabbed Sasuke around the shoulders and clung to him.

_**Sakura, give me control! **_Lina forcefully demanded.

_Sasuke-kun is dying!_ Sakura bawled internally as tears ran down her cheeks. She unconsciously kept her control on her body firm so that she could clutch at Sasuke.

_**I know! That's why I need to cast a spell! Quit fighting me!**_ Lina shouted as she futilely struggled for influence against the body's true owner.

"I told myself I wouldn't die before I killed my brother… but my body moved on its own." Sasuke's voice faded away and he closed his eyes.

"He died to protect you," Haku said. He stepped back into one of his remaining jutsu mirrors. "He died as a shinobi. Is this the first time that you have seen a friend die?" The masked boy's voice was not mocking but it was as hard and cold as the ice he used. "This is the way of the ninja."

"Shut up," Naruto growled.

Sakura was left completely numb. Lina was finally able to mentally push her away and begin her spell. She placed her hands flat on Sasuke's chest and chanted, "Flow of purest white-" Her mouth snapped shut as she felt a surging power coming from the blond next to her.

"I'll kill you!" howled Naruto.

The force continued to increase inside Naruto, some of it overflowing from his body. It ripped into the bridge's surface, carving a spiral centered on the boy. The needles lodged in his body were pushed out and sent flying from the force.

"L-sama, that's…" breathed Lina as her eyes widened in recognition. She had felt this before. She had once met a man named Rezo who had been born blind. He had excelled in white magic and had been considered one of the greatest healers in the world. But he had never been able to change his own blindness. His last attempt at a cure had caused him to inadvertently break a seal that had been on him since birth, a seal that no one knew existed.

Rezo had unleashed one of the seven sealed fragments of Ruby Eye Shabranigdo, the most powerful Mazoku in the world.

The powerful chakra in the here and now brought forth a gamut of emotions inside Lina. Fear, hate, sadness: every negative emotion bubbled up within her. And above and beyond all of that she felt a terrible thirst for death and destruction.

_Wh-what am I feeling? _Sakura nervously asked, the new emotions releasing her from her shock at Sasuke's death.

_**The presence of a Mazoku,**_ Lina answered. _**There's a demon sealed inside Naruto. And it's breaking free, **_she added grimly.

The cuts on Naruto's body healed rapidly. Lina breathed a small sigh of relief when the amount of energy being released by Naruto's body stopped growing. It was a little weak for a Mazoku but Lina did not think that was its full power. Nobody would go through the trouble of sealing a weak Mazoku and there was something about the feel of its presence that made Lina think it was very strong. More likely, the seal was not fully broken yet. _**I wonder how long until it breaks completely?**_

Naruto's body charged toward Haku. The masked shinobi threw several senbon but they were knocked aside by a bestial roar.

Lina did not have many options. With her current level of spiritual control and the absence of her Demon Blood Talismans, a Ragna Blade would rip her body apart before the spell completed.

_What are you planning? _Sakura asked her. _I don't understand your thoughts._

The thing in control of Naruto finally caught Haku and landed a viscous hook on his mask. Haku was sent crashing through one of the last ice mirrors.

Lina was not surprised at Sakura's lack of insight in this situation. Sakura had never needed to kill someone for something that was not his fault. _**I'll have to cast a Dragon Slave,**_ Lina decided. _**I'll grab Sasuke as soon as I finish and fly out of here. Hopefully Kakashi will be able to get Tazuna away. It should be enough to kill the Mazoku at its current power level.**_

_You can't kill Naruto!_ Sakura protested.

_**If it breaks free completely, then we'll all die!**_

If the Mazoku was as strong as Lina feared, then a Dragon Slave would not stop it once it reached its full strength. And the Giga Slave was not an option. Whatever other memories she had lost, she retained the knowledge she had gained from the Claire Bible.

The sheets of ice surrounding Lina crumbled. She could see Haku's form in the surrounding mist. Naruto's body rushed forward once again.

"Thou who is darker than twilight," Lina chanted as she stood up.

Sakura weakly scrabbled for control of her body. The kunoichi did not want Naruto to die but she understood that Lina was telling the truth. She also knew that Lina wanted more than anything to not have to cast her spell. Lina's focused mind did not even notice her halfhearted effort.

Haku's mask fell from his face in pieces, revealing a his feminine appearance. Naruto's body reached the enemy ninja and then surprisingly its fist stopped short of hitting Haku.

"You're the one from that time…" Lina heard Naruto say. She cut her spell off as she felt the malevolent presence in the air lessen.

_**Naruto is still in control?!**_ Lina thought in amazement. Internally, Sakura was crying tears of relief. Lina pushed her sudden questions about Naruto and his sealed demon from her mind and turned her attention back to Sasuke. Kneeling, she lay her hands on his chest again.

_What are you doing?_ Sakura questioned despondently.

_**He may still be alive!**_ Lina replied. _**He momentarily killed Zabuza this same way.**_ Sakura mentally gasped in understanding.

"Flow of purest white, power of healing," Lina quickly sang out. "**Recovery!**" A white glow surrounded her hands for a few seconds. The sorceress could tell that Naruto and Haku were having a conversation but their words were faint and her concentration was on Sasuke.

Naruto's shout of "Why for an eyebrowless freak like him?!" distracted Lina for a moment but a weak groan came from the black-haired boy beneath her hands.

Sakura jumped onto Sasuke and began hugging him and babbling apologies.

"Sakura," Sasuke said in his still-weak voice.

"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"You're heavy."

Sakura flushed lightly and pulled herself off the other genin. Tears poured from her eyes. "You almost died because of me." She tried to wipe away her tears but they continued to flow. "Why would you do that for me?"

_**I guess he's a nicer guy than I gave him credit for,**_ Lina admitted.

"Sakura," Sasuke said again. "You're annoying."

Lina laughed inside Sakura's mind as her pent up stress was released. Sakura's cheeks turned a darker red and she felt one of her hands trying to ball into a fist. _I don't understand him!_ she angrily thought. Lina continued to laugh.

The surrounding fog began to dissipate. Sakura saw that Naruto was standing alone with a confused expression on his face. Kakashi's arm was driven through Haku's chest, near where the boy's heart would be, and coated in blood.

Zabuza stood directly behind Haku. "My future is death? You're wrong once again, Sharingan Kakashi," the missing-nin said mockingly. "I sure did pick up a useful tool."

Zabuza swung his giant sword in a path that would have cut through both Kakashi's and Haku's bodies. Kakashi jumped out of the way, carrying the dead boy. The Copy Ninja pulled his hand out of Haku's chest, sat the body down, and closed the young boy's unseeing eyes.

"So, you can still move even while carrying him," Zabuza commented.

Naruto dashed forward but was stopped by command from Kakashi: "Naruto, stay back. This is my fight."

Lina looked down at Sasuke. His eyes were clear but he lay unmoving. "I'm going to help finish this," she told him.

"What happened to that masked kid?" Sasuke asked softly.

"Looks like he died protecting Zabuza from Kakashi," Lina explained.

Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement.

_Hey, wait!_ Sakura complained as Lina stood. _I can't leave Sasuke-kun like this!_

_**He'll be fine.**_ Lina grimaced from pain. She only had two needles in her body but her stamina was mostly gone and her adrenaline had faded. She slowly walked toward where Kakashi and Zabuza were locked in combat. On the other side of the battle, a large number of armed men were unloading from a boat. Lina stopped next to Naruto. He looked at her, and she saw a deep frown on his face and sadness in his eyes. "Sasuke is alive, Naruto."

Naruto's frown turned into a shaky smile and tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. Lina smiled at his reaction.

A clang of metal against concrete made Lina look back at the fight. Zabuza's _zanbatou_ was now laying on the ground and several kunai were sticking through his arms.

The bandits – at least that is what Lina's mind identified them as – approached the ninja. A short man wearing an expensive suit stood at the head of the crowd. "Oh, you're getting your ass kicked, Zabuza. So disappointing for the Devil of the Hidden Mist," he said in a sneering tone.

"Gatou, what are you doing here?" the Kiri missing-nin asked. Lina suspected he already knew the answer.

"I never intended to pay you," the wealthy man said, "but I had hoped you would at least finish off the ninja hired by that foolish bridge builder."

"Kakashi," Zabuza said tiredly, "this fight is over."

"Yeah," the Konoha jounin responded.

Naruto began frowning again and growled in irritation.

"So what do we do about the bandits?" Lina asked, glaring at the horde of dissimilar men.

"My enemy is still him!" Naruto shouted, pointing at Zabuza, surprising Lina and Sakura.

"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi said in a pointless attempt to pacify the blond.

"Haku died for you and you don't react at all!"

Gatou walked closer and stood over Haku's corpse. "Oh, this one. I never got a chance to thank him for breaking my arm." He cruelly kicked the dead boy.

"You bastard!" Naruto charged toward Gatou but Kakashi caught him back the back of his orange jumpsuit.

"There are those who use and those who are used," Zabuza said, turning away. "Shinobi are only tools. Haku was a tool for me to use. That is the way of the ninja."

Naruto broke away from Kakashi's grip. He pointed at the dead boy's body. "He truly loved you! Do you really not feel anything?! Does being strong mean you feel nothing?!"

Lina limped over to Kakashi. Everyone else, even Gatou, seemed to be fixated on the loud blond. "Do you have a plan?" she asked in a whisper.

Kakashi looked at her. "I'm fairly low on chakra. Are you able to do any more of those unusual jutsu?" he asked in just as quiet a voice.

"He gave everything for you!" Naruto shouted as Zabuza. "Even his dream…" Tears spilled down his face as he finished.

"Sure, though the numbers could be a bit of a problem," Lina said. _**Without destroying a large portion of the bridge,**_ was her private thought.

"They're just soldiers," Kakashi said. "They'd usually run at the first sign of a powerful jutsu. But they're also Gatou's private army. With him leading them, they probably won't back down."

Lina nodded. Bandits were like that, willing to follow a strong leader into more dangerous situations than they would otherwise get into. Lina grinned confidently. _**And I'm a dangerous situation; I wasn't known as the Bandit Killer for nothing.**_

Sakura snickered internally at Lina's braggadocio.

"Say something!" Naruto screamed at Zabuza.

Zabuza turned to face Naruto and Lina saw that his own cheeks were wet with tears. "Kid, you don't need to say any more. I know it pained him to fight; he was too kind." The missing-nin paused for a few moments. "I'm glad that this was my last battle," he finally said.

"Huh?" Naruto said in confusion.

_**Last battle? **_Lina thought with dread.

"Shinobi are still human," Zabuza said. "Perhaps we can't become emotionless tools after all."

"Source of all power," Lina said softly.

The bindings around his face fell away and Lina saw that he had chewed through them. "Let me borrow your kunai, kid."

"Flame which burns beyond crimson," the sorceress chanted the second verse of her spell.

Naruto tossed his kunai to Zabuza and the missing-nin caught it between his teeth. He swiftly and silently rushed toward Gatou.

_**Crap! He is suicidal!**_ Lina thought frantically.

_It's what he wants, _Sakura said with a touch of sadness.

_**Screw that!**_

"Kill them!" Gatou ordered as he pushed his way through his army, away from the berserk missing-nin.

"**Flare Arrow!**" Lina shouted. A sweep of her right arm released six crimson bolts. She directed them toward the men in between Zabuza and Gatou. The arrows burned through cloth and into human flesh, making six of Gatou's men scream in pain and drop to the ground.

Sakura mentally flinched at the sight.

The soldiers' concentration was split between the oncoming danger of Zabuza and the pink-haired girl standing some distance away. But as Zabuza reached them, they reacted to the closer danger and plunged their weapons into him.

"**Flare Arrow!**" Lina called again, skipping the chant, and released three more of the deadly arrows.

Zabuza breached the mob and came face to face with Gatou. He stabbed the short man with the kunai. "I'll be seeing you in hell!" the missing-nin shouted. He pulled the kunai back and flung his upper body around in an arc, beheading the merchant. He stood upright for a moment and then his body fell to the bridge's surface.

Lina ground her teeth in frustration.

"Don't look away," Kakashi said, "He was a man who lived a hard life and chose a difficult end."

Naruto nodded soberly.

Tazuna led a limping Sasuke up to them. The black-haired genin was moving gingerly but he had a determined look in his eyes.

Kakashi gave the Uchiha boy a glance. "Nice to see that you're alright. I was a bit worried."

"Good thing you didn't die, I've still got to beat your ass," Naruto said.

Sasuke snorted disdainfully.

"You better not forget about us!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"You damn ninja killed our meal ticket!"

"We're gonna pillage this town!"

Most of the soldiers at the front of the crowd cheered raucously. Some of them were giving a certain pink-haired sorceress nervous glances and a few were already sneaking away at the back of the horde.

A bolt – a real one made of metal and wood – landed in between the ex-army and Team Seven. Looking backward, Lina saw a gathering of the town's inhabitants armed with crossbows and spears. Inari was in the lead.

"Inari!" Naruto shouted joyfully.

"A hero always shows up at the last second, right?" Tazuna's grandson said with a smile.

_What caused him to change so much?_ Sakura wondered on seeing the bright grin.

Lina had her suspicions but she did not reply. "Okay!" she suddenly shouted, startling Tazuna and the Konoha ninja. "I don't have to worry about hitting Zabuza now!" Her statement caused a shuffling of feet among the bandits in front of her.

Kakashi looked at her worriedly.

"Source of all power!" Lina cried at the top of her voice, causing the front rank to flinch.

"Flame which burns beyond crimson!" Much of the rear guard was leaving the bridge for the safety of the boat they had arrived on.

"Scatter thyself and my enemies!" Lina raised her hands, prominently displaying their red glow. The bandits' nerves broke completely at this and they pushed and shoved each other in a mad dash for the boat.

"**Burst Rondo!**" Dozens of red spheres shots from her hands, starting small fires on clothes and blistering flesh where they landed.

The bandits she had hit earlier with her Flare Arrow spells were left behind but it soon became obvious that they were stumbling or crawling away as quickly as their ruined arms and legs would allow.

"You're the best, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.

_You didn't kill any of them? _Sakura thought incredulously.

_**My accuracy is better than that,**_ Lina replied flippantly. _**And I wasn't sure if you were ready for the experience of killing someone, even indirectly, **_she said sincerely.

_Thank you,_ was Sakura's quiet response.

"We did it!" shouted the townspeople. They erupted into cheers.

Kakashi looked at Lina, pulled his forehead protector over his Sharingan eye, and walked to Zabuza.

_We have to figure out an explanation, _Sakura reminded.

Snow began to fall from the sky as Kakashi carried Zabuza to Haku's corpse and laid him down next to the dead boy.

Zabuza's wounds were more than Lina's healing spells could repair. Lina mentally retreated and Sakura slid back into control.

"He was born in a snowy village," Naruto said as he cried. The usually loud blond gripped the leg of Kakashi's pants tightly.

Sakura patted Naruto's shoulder in comfort.

Sasuke expressionlessly stared at the two ninja, one dead and one dying.

oOo

Two weeks later, Team Seven was visiting the graves of Zabuza and Haku.

"Kakashi-sensei, was Zabuza right about ninja being tools?" Sakura asked as she laid a wreath of flowers on Haku's grave.

_**Don't tell me you bought into that!**_ Lina said disgustedly.

"A shinobi is supposed to be selfless," the silver-haired jounin answered, "a reliable tool who only follows orders. This is a common belief among ninja."

"I don't like that," Naruto said with a scowl.

_Neither do I,_ Sakura internally confessed.

"What do you believe?" Sasuke asked Kakashi.

"I believe… that every ninja must make his own decisions," was Kakashi's ambiguous answer.

"Okay! I'm going to make my own way of the ninja!" Naruto proudly proclaimed.

Lina smiled inside Sakura's mind.

_I wonder what my way should be? _Sakura wondered.

Kakashi smiled at the blue-eyed genin. His gaze shifted to Sakura. "Speaking of ways of the ninja," he said.

"What?" she asked apprehensively.

"Are you ready to explain your jutsu?" Kakashi inquired. His eye looked like it always did but his voice held an amount of curiosity. Naruto and Sasuke were also watching Sakura closely. "Not even my Sharingan showed me anything when I watched your techniques," the Copy Ninja admitted. A startled look flashed across Sasuke's face as his black eyes darted to the jounin for an instant.

Sakura took a deep breath and reminded herself of what she and Lina had decided to tell the other Konoha ninja. Within her, Lina paid close attention to their reactions. "I'm not using ninjutsu," Sakura said, "it's majutsu. I'm not using chakra for those techniques, just spiritual energy."

The two boys were frowning at her in confusion, Naruto was squinting his eyes. Kakashi scratched his covered chin. "Where did you learn to do this?"

Sakura giggled nervously as she readied herself to tell them the less believable part of her explanation. "I've… started… remembering things from my past life," her hesitant voice sped up as she voiced the sentence and she finished in a rush.

Her statement caused a collective blink.

_Do you think that it might be true?_ Sakura asked her other self.

_**I don't think I should be able to talk to my reincarnation,**_ Lina said. _**But it's as good a theory as I have.**_

Sakura nodded to herself.

Naruto was gaping openly at Sakura. Sasuke's eye showed even more confusion and his mouthed opened as if to ask a question but it closed again.

"How long has this been happening?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura did not have a prepared answer for that question but it was not difficult to create one. "It started about the time we formed genin teams."

"Is that why you've been acting so weird?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Weird?" Sakura asked in return.

"Even Naruto has noticed," Sasuke said, making Sakura blush.

"What do you mean 'even' me?!" shouted Naruto. "I pay a lot of attention to Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke ignored the interruption. "He kept bugging me about it, saying it was my fault."

"I was sure that you had done something to upset her!"

"Of course Sasuke-kun didn't do anything to me," Sakura said angrily at the agitated blond. "I've just been trying to… reconcile and integrate my memories."

"So, so!" Naruto said excitedly. "Who were you in your past life? A princess?"

Lina mentally laughed.

"I was a sorceress, that should be obvious, Naruto," Sakura told Naruto. "I used to fight bandits… I don't remember much else about what I did." It was not exactly a lie, Sakura did not know much about what Lina had done. _I'm not about to mention saving the world._

"Do you remember where you lived? Or what your name was?" questioned Kakashi.

"My name was Lina…" Sakura paused. _What is your family name?_

_**Inverse,**_ Lina answered.

"Inverse Lina."

_**Lina Inverse!**_ Lina shouted in indignation.

"Um… Lina Inverse, actually. I guess given names were said first," Sakura clarified.

Naruto mouthed the odd name silently.

"Then you didn't live in Fire Country," Kakashi stated.

_**Zefielia was where I was born,**_ Lina muttered.

"No, the country was called Zefielia," Sakura said.

Kakashi shook his head at the information.

"Can you teach me how to use… majutsu," Sasuke asked. Naruto had an eager look on his face as well.

Lina had an insight and decided to answer the black-eyed genin directly. Neither she nor Sakura noticed her body relax as the more confident girl took control. "I could teach you but I'm not sure that it's a good idea to try learning sorcery while you're in the middle of learning to control your chakra."

_You think that's my problem? _Sakura internally asked.

_**Yes, **_Lina thought back. _**I suspect you involuntarily mixed your spirit with physical energy when you cast Lighting.**_

Naruto pouted.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her answer. "You're still learning to control your chakra."

"But I already know how to control magic. I'm not trying to learn both ninja techniques and sorcery at the same time," Lina said.

Kakashi sighed loudly. "Okay, I think that's enough questions for now."

Lina exhaled in relief and relinquished control to Sakura.

Sasuke still looked disgruntled. Naruto was quickly returning to his happy self, talking about how he would learn every ninjutsu in the world and then 'his Sakura-chan' would teach him everything about majutsu, which earned him a smack from the green-eyed girl.

"Time for us to pack up and… go home," the jounin instructor said as he led Team Seven away from the graves.

oOo

There is always more to a story. Always some part that goes untold. In this case, part of what might have been left out was what happened to Gatou's privately-funded army after his death.

Gatou had never really trusted anyone. There was no upper level of management in Gatou's company. He had kept tight control over all aspects of his monopoly. So when he died the company fell apart very quickly as a hundred different men – each one with control over one or two of Gatou's operations – squabbled for power.

His army had no general; they only took orders from Gatou himself. Since none of the low-level managers had enough money to pay the army they were forced to disband as a unit, each man left to seek his own fortune.

Some of them turned to less dangerous lines of work. Some of them became bodyguards to the new bosses that arose from Gatou's splintered empire. Some of them sought out mercenary or bandit groups in other countries.

Everywhere they went, especially those of the last category, they took stories with them. The tales spread and – as often happens when told within establishments that serve liquor – they were altered in the retelling. Deeds were exaggerated and identities were confused. Soon most of the tales featured a short, flat-chested, pink-haired girl who breathed fire, swung a giant sword, and killed her enemies by the score.

When a certain grey-haired Leaf genin – who was supposedly on an undercover C-rank mission to scout bandit camps in the Land of Rice Fields – heard the tales, he grinned, pushed his glasses up his nose, and added his own twist to the telling.

When the same genin visited a bandit camp the next day, he did so in the guise of a short pink-haired girl. He attacked them using Katon jutsu – or something similar in appearance – and he made sure that the bandits he had seen in the bar escaped with their lives.

And so the stories continued to grow; only now a name was attached to those stories: Haruno Sakura, the Bandit Killer.

End of Chapter 3

oOo

**Replies:**

TuffChick re. "can sakura learn magic too?" – You asked me just a tad too early. Anyway, your answer is in this chapter: yes, she can but there are some problems for her to work through. Thanks for the encouragement.

Prophesy Maker – Thank you. Since the story is almost exclusively Naruto characters and setting, I put it in the Naruto category. I knew I would be getting readers who wouldn't be familiar with Slayers so I've tried to be careful in how I introduced Lina and her magic. I hope that I'm doing justice to Lina's character… I don't think she would try to forcefully take over Sakura's body… she's not quite that selfish… I think.

Kiba-and-Sakura-4ever re. "ROAR" – Plot-Kitsune (no, it's not a bunny) says: Kon kon!

**Notes:**

Lina's rant is more a commentary about Sakura than Sasuke, I hope that came across as I intended.

If anyone wants to make specific comments, I'd appreciate critique of the fight scene in particular. It's what I feel the least confident about. I like how I imagine it in my mind but I don't know if it's coming across well in writing. Next battle is with Orochimaru. **Kukuku.**

It's always fascinating to see what scenes develop as I write. I wrote Chapter 1 with Lina seeing through Naruto's henge (the hints there were subtle) but I had no intention of having it revealed to Sakura. It turned into a funny scene I like to think.

Lina will probably have to do an explanation of white/shamanistic/black magic soon. **Yeesh.** Ragna Blade, Giga Slave, and the Claire Bible will eventually be discussed.

_hara_ – a point in the stomach below the navel – I don't know nuthin' about birthin' no chakra.  
_tomoe _– comma-like shape

_Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou – _Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death  
_Hijutsu: Makyou Hyou Shou –_ Secret Technique: Demonic Ice Mirrors  
_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu_ – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

_Lighting_ – white magic spell, creates a long-lasting ball of light, can be altered to create a short blinding flash, easiest known spell  
_Diem Wind_ – shamanistic air spell, basic air spell allowing caster to control wind in front of her – **my chant**, derived from Bram Gush (though probably official): Wind which blows across eternity / Diem Wind!  
_Windy Shield_ – shamanistic air spell, standard defensive spell that creates a spherical shield of air around caster – **my chant**, derived from Bram Gush: Wind which blows across eternity / Gather around me and become my defense / Windy Shield!  
_Fireball_ – shamanistic fire spell, standard combat spell  
_Dragon Slave_ – black magic spell, ultimate destructive spell – chant is/will be a combination from TV series and movies.  
_Recovery_ – white magic spell, standard healing spell  
_Burst Rondo_ – shamanistic fire spell, creates many small weak fireballs, mostly a distraction technique – **my chant,** derived from Fireball: Source of all power / Flame which burns beyond crimson / Scatter thyself and my enemies / Burst Rondo!

**Omake:** What if Lina had Awakened Earlier?

A small pink-haired girl sobbed alone in the forest. Several other girls had surrounded her earlier and made fun of her forehead. It was her first year in the ninja academy and she did not have any friends.

_I'll never have a friend,_ she thought bitterly.

_**Friend?**_ a voice asked her.

Sakura stopped sobbing. Tears still coursed down her cheeks and she sniffled a bit as she looked around. But no one was there.

"Hello?" she said.

_**In here, **_the voice said.

_Who are you?_ she thought back to it.

_**My name is Lina,**_ the voice said, _**I'll be your friend.**_

Sakura realized that this must be an 'imaginary friend.' She had heard her mother talking about having had an imaginary friend when she was young but she never thought she would have one of her own. Sakura was very happy to have a friend.

_**Now, about those kids who were picking on you,**_ Lina said with an evil grin.

oOo

Ino had seen Ami and her cronies picking on a pink-haired girl earlier. She had wanted to talk to the girl but afterward she could not find her. So Ino was going back to where Ami and her friends hung out to give them a piece of her mind.

When she got there, the pink-haired girl with the bad haircut was there also. But something about her was a bit different.

"How dare you pick on a cute, harmless, innocent little girl like me!" the girl yelled at Ami.

Ami and her friends laughed. "You think you're cute?" Ami sneered.

"**Mega Brand!**"

The ground exploded and Ami and her friends were thrown several feet into the air. They landed in awkward positions on the ground.

A couple of the girls were crying while the rest groaned in pain. "I don't think she's exactly harmless," one of the girls unwisely said.

"**Fireball!**"

Now burning in addition to being bruised, the girls found the energy to run away from the pink-haired embodiment of destruction.

"Guess she's not so innocent either," Ino whispered to herself.

(I thought this is amusing but it doesn't have the same potential.)

**Misc:**

"I can't believe you!" the black-haired genin shouted in aggravation.

(I made a funny. Haha. It is to laugh.)


	5. Interlude 1: The Stranger

"Naruto" is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. "Slayers" is the creation of Kanzaka Hajime.

Warning: This story has spoilers for certain content of Slayers, NEXT, and TRY.

Update: blond/blonde fix

**A Different Voice**

Interlude 1: The Stranger

Posted: 6/27/2007

Updated: 7/23/2007

The man – not that he was truly a man – sat on a tree limb while watching the battle take place on the bridge. His face was only one of many that he had worn over the millennia but in some ways it was his favorite. And he certainly felt that it was the most appropriate in the current circumstances.

He whistled a merry little tune as he watched the fight progress. The girl was a sorceress, there was not doubt about that, which certainly made her an oddity in this land. He still did not know if she was the one that he awaited.

He had followed the little group since it had left the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He had witnessed the attack by the two ninja and seen the girl start to cast a Dill Brand. But that was not what he was wanting. The attack days later by a stronger rogue ninja had also left him disappointed. The girl had almost cast a Flare Arrow that time. Closer but still not quite what he was seeking.

He had reluctantly abandoned his stalking of the girl for several days after that fight. Even if she was the one, he still had other duties which he could not abandon just yet. Fortuitously, he had made it back in time for this second confrontation with the relatively strong rogue ninja.

He kicked his feet in boredom and twirled his staff a bit. Resting the crooked head of his staff against his shoulder, he continued to watch the fight. The third young member of her party arrived, creating a ruckus that made him laugh.

Finally, he saw and felt what he had been anticipating for so very long. The girl raised her hand. She spoke and called upon the power of Nature, bringing fragments of Fire together. He felt the Chaos Words from the seirei majutsu reverberate through the astral plane. The girl finished gathering the Fireball and tossed it.

There was something unique about the way the girl cast the Fireball spell. Any halfway decent sorcerer could perform the spell. It was not difficult to say the proper words, think the proper thoughts, and call upon the spirits of Fire. But the girl went beyond that; it was as if she **became** Fire.

He might have shouted for joy, except that his kind could never experience that particular emotion. He did have a sense of satisfaction, however, which was perhaps as close as he could come to being happy. So he watched the battle with a grin of satisfaction and some amusement on his face as the wind tugged on his purple hair.

Kyuubi-sama's power bursting from the blond-haired boy made his grin just a bit wider and he briefly marveled at the fate that caused sealed beings to cross paths with the girl. He did not question it as many would have, however, for he knew the reason even if it was a secret to nearly everyone else.

Xelloss the Trickster Priest, the Dragon Slayer, the Priest-General of Zelas-Metallium had found Lina Inverse. And the world would never be the same.

End of Interlude 1

oOo

**Replies:**

RobotPirateNinja re. "Is Sakura/Lina going to confront Naruto about the demon inside him?": Sooner or later, yes.

Lousy Poet Automaton: Thanks for the wonderful review. (I sent him/her a private message so I could respond more fully.)

josie & Dreamergirl92813 & xXWinterXx: Thank you.

**Notes:**

Now that everyone's favorite Mazoku has made an appearance (Pi chuckles at inside joke.) I'm ready for the chuunin exams! For those of you not familiar with Xelloss, he'll be introduced in a more normal (?) way in Chapter 6 (By my numbering not ff net's). Xelloss is the second of … three (Three and a half? Four? Not sure how I should count at times. Three and a half and a quarter, maybe.) characters from Slayers that I will be using.

Chapter 4 will probably take me a bit longer to write than Chapter 3 did. So don't be too surprised if it doesn't appear next week.

_Seirei Majutsu_ – Shamanistic Magic, elemental magic in Slayers


	6. Chapter 4: The Chuunin Exams Begin!

"Naruto" is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. "Slayers" is the creation of Kanzaka Hajime.

Warning: This story has spoilers for certain content of Slayers, NEXT, and TRY. **(Spoilers for Slayers and NEXT, minor TRY and movie/OAV references in this chapter.)**

Update: 1) blond/blonde fix, minor addition to scene where Team Seven and Team Gai meet, fixed the name of one of Lee's techniques during his fight with Sasuke, 2) removed 'Arashi' which I didn't intend to use in the first place but slipped in by accident

**A Different Voice**

Chapter 4: Pressure! The Chuunin Exams Begin!

Posted: 7/13/2007

Updated: 7/23/2007, 8/31/2007

Sakura cracked an eye open and the bright sunlight slanting through her bedroom window made her cringe. She pulled the white bed sheets over her head and tried to bury herself in the goose down pillow. Lina said something about breakfast but Sakura was able to ignore her other self in her half-asleep state.

A light tapping on her bedroom door went unheeded also. Her mother bursting into her room was more difficult to ignore.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" Momoka chirped. Sakura tightened her grip on the sheets and protectively curled them around herself. The older pink-haired woman reached across her to push the window drapes fully open. Mid-morning sunlight poured into Sakura's bedroom. Neither closed eyelids nor the thin white sheets wrapped around her head did much to prevent the glare from reaching Sakura's green eyes.

"It's Saturday," Sakura mumbled in a vain effort to avoid being dragged from her comfortable bed.

"Hatake-san is downstairs."

"Kakashi-sensei?" the younger Haruno questioned drowsily.

"That's right. You should get dressed. But don't worry; I'll keep him entertained until you get downstairs." Momoka patted the prone girl's head before leaving the room.

Sakura lay in her bed for another minute as her mind slowly awakened. _Entertained?!_ she thought in sudden dismay. _There's no telling what she's planning but it'll definitely be embarrassing for me! _

The pink-haired girl scrambled from her bed and quickly changed from her nightgown. She raced downstairs, now wearing a red pair of slacks and a pale yellow t-shirt with a drawing of an eye in red on the front. She finished adjusting the _hitai-ate_ on top of her head as she entered the living room. Her mother and her sensei were calmly drinking tea, despite the fact that Kakashi's facemask was still in place. "You're right, I absolutely must invite all of you over for dinner soon," her mother said.

She was wrong; it was not an embarrassment, it was a disaster in the making.

Kakashi was sitting on the ugly purple paisley couch and her mother on the plain-looking brown recliner. The cherry wood coffee table in front of them held a pair of saucers and her mother's silver tea service. Kakashi gave her his usual smile upon seeing her.

_**I wonder why he's here,**_ Lina said.

Sakura grit her teeth and attempted to smile in return. "You need to talk to me, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, but I think we have time for me to finish my tea before we leave," he replied.

_Quick! Help me think of some way to end this!_ Sakura pleaded with Lina.

_**We need a way to embarrass Kakashi.**_

_In front of my mother?_ Sakura said dubiously. _Ah-ha!_ she mentally cried in victory. The pink-haired girl walked over to the couch and sat on the end nearest her mother. "Of course," she said in a too-friendly voice, "you two have so much in common."

Momoka looked at her curiously. Her jounin instructor watched her warily, obviously picking up on her inflection.

"Like romance novels."

Momoka squealed in glee and sent a barrage of questions toward Kakashi. "Have you read the latest by Murasaki? Isn't it simply divine?!"

Kakashi's expression changed to one of horror. "My, look at the time." He rapidly scanned the room for a clock but did not find one. The jounin did not wear a watch either. Ignoring the lack of timepiece for reference, he sat his teacup down and grabbed Sakura's arm. "We really must be going."

Sakura found herself swiftly ushered outside, barely having enough time to slide her sandals on. She smiled triumphantly.

It had rained at some point during the night and the streets were still damp. The cool spring air had done little to evaporate the rainwater and Sakura dodged around puddles as she followed Kakashi away from her house.

"What is this about, anyway?" Sakura asked with some annoyance as she caught up with the jounin. "You said we wouldn't be meeting until Wednesday."

Kakashi nodded. "Hokage-sama wants to talk to you about your… memories," he said. Sakura cringed slightly and the silver-haired man looked at her. "Surely you knew this would happen."

_We should have come up with some other explanation,_ she thought grumpily. Lina shrugged in her mind. The two of them had discussed many alternatives but the partial truth they had given to the rest of Team Seven was still the best option.

Sakura sighed despondently. "I didn't think it would be so soon. We just got back from Wave Country," she complained.

Kakashi shrugged by way of an apology.

Lina decided that it was not enough. She pointed at a restaurant that they were passing and said, "I didn't get to eat breakfast yet so you're going to pay." The restaurant had a large banner in the window which proudly proclaimed 'All You Can Eat.' In small print below that it read 'Akimichi clan members excluded.'

"We honestly don't have much time," Kakashi warned.

"It won't take long," Lina said with a smirk as she entered the eatery.

When they left the restaurant fifteen minutes later, a rotund man in a cook's hat and apron could be seen through the window, crying liberally as he ripped the banner down.

Kakashi looked down at the short girl beside him. "I don't think I've ever seen someone eat that much."

_I know I haven't!_ Sakura said internally. _Where do you put it all?!_

Lina smiled and contentedly patted her stomach.

oOo

The Hokage's office was not as dark as Sakura had imagined it to be. There was a large bay window behind his desk which gave an impressive view of the village but did not seem very defensible. Then again, perhaps that was part of the point – if this was where he met with other political figures, the inviting window would tell of his confidence in his guards' abilities as well as his own.

There were a large number of shelves along the walls of the room, as she expected, holding a variety of scrolls. The room smelled of ink and pipe smoke.

A single leather desk chair was in front of the desk; it matched the one that the Hokage himself was sitting in.

Kakashi led Sakura forward. She stopped in front of the desk and gave the Sandaime a deep bow. "Good morning, Hokage-sama."

The Third Hokage gave her a smile and took the pipe out of his mouth. "Please have a seat, Sakura," he said and gestured toward the chair with the stem of his pipe.

Sakura settled nervously into the chair, the leather squeaking from even her slight weight. The pink-haired genin placed her hands in her lap. Kakashi stood to her left and slightly behind her, just out of her vision when she looked straight at the Hokage.

Sakura began fidgeting almost immediately.

_**Want me to take over?**_ Lina asked.

_No!_ responded Sakura. She had noticed during their internal conversations that the other girl rarely showed any respect. _You're so rude at times. I don't want you calling Hokage-sama something like 'old man' the way that Naruto does._

_**I'm not rude!**_ Lina protested. _**I'm just… direct.**_

Sakura nearly snorted at that but kept herself from reacting visibly.

The Sandaime smiled kindly at her again and removed his four-cornered hat. Without the traditional hat of the Hokage resting on his head, the man looked much older. His hairline had receded to the point where most of his hair was on the back of his head. "Sakura, there's no need for you to be scared."

Sakura flushed, realizing just how obvious her nervousness was. Then again, her anxiety was partly their doing. The Hokage's actions were obviously meant to make her more at ease. At the same time Kakashi was in her blind spot and she could feel his eye on her even if she could not see it. She looked up at the silver-haired jounin. "Is this some sort of 'good cop, bad cop' routine?"

Kakashi smiled at her and the Hokage chuckled. "Not exactly," the Sandaime answered her. "You must admit that your… claim of having previous memories is very unusual."

Feeling resigned, Sakura nodded.

The Hokage rested his elbows on his desk and clasped his hands together under his chin as he leaned forward. His face was set in a serious expression. "We have looked for information on the country that you mentioned to Kakashi," he said. "The name 'Zefielia' does not appear in any of our records, though I must admit our geographic records are quite incomplete."

"Incomplete? Why is that?" Sakura asked curiously.

"When the Elemental Nations were formed, the _Daimyo_ of the countries chose to be very isolationist in regards to anything from outside the Elemental Nations," the Hokage explained. "There are a few examples of overseas knowledge and influence that survived, such as how we use the English designators 'A,' 'B,' and 'C' for our mission ranks, but our knowledge is very limited in the here-and-now."

"Shouldn't we, as shinobi, know more about the world?" The lack of information did not make any sense to Sakura, especially since one of the primary duties of ninja was to gather information.

"Who do you think has the responsibility of keeping such 'foreign' knowledge from spreading? We are in an awkward position of having to police ourselves." The leader of Konoha leaned back in his chair, causing it to creak. "Regrettably, to my mind, we have become quite proficient at it and it has become difficult for even us to learn of anything that occurs outside the Elemental Nations."

'_**Forbidden knowledge,' is it?**_ Lina murmured. _**I'm certainly no stranger to the concept but this is on a huge scale.**_

"I don't remember hearing anything like this in the academy," Sakura mentioned.

"We do not hide it completely but we certainly do not draw attention to it," the Hokage said. "We teach young ninja about the surrounding nations and the other ninja villages. We tell them that these are who we must be concerned about, that these are our friends and enemies, that the rest of the world is not important to shinobi."

"But you don't actually agree with this, do you?"

"I do not," agreed the Sandaime. "That is one reason that I wish to talk to you: to learn what you know." He paused and looked deeply into Sakura's eyes. "I also must make sure you are still loyal to Konoha."

Sakura felt a jolt of fright run through her body. Her apprehension had diminished since the start of the conversation but now it came back in full force. "Of course I am!" she insisted.

_**But I can't say that I am,**_ Lina said.

Sakura had not thought of that before. She trusted Lina but the sorceress was not a ninja of the Hidden Leaf.

_**If I have to choose between doing what I think is right and what we've been ordered…**_ Lina did not finish the thought but she did not have to.

Sakura was still uncomfortable with that dilemma herself and did not know how to respond to her other self.

"You can understand my predicament, do you not?" the Hokage asked.

Sakura nodded miserably. "Am I going to be removed from Team Seven?" A graduate of the ninja academy was considered to be loyal unless the jounin instructors had a reason to believe otherwise. Now, after all her hard work, they did have a reason to doubt her. Perhaps even a valid reason.

"No," the Hokage quickly replied. "What would be most helpful is if you would agree to teach Kakashi your majutsu."

Sakura blinked at the unexpected request.

"It may very well be true that teaching Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't work well at their stage in training but the same does not apply to me," Kakashi stated. Sakura looked up at him over her shoulder but his expression was as bland as it ever was.

"And if – no, more accurate to say 'when' – your abilities become known it will be much easier to allay any fears that the village council might have if you are sharing these techniques," the Hokage explained.

_**Okay, my turn,**_ Lina said. Sakura started to protest. _**Don't worry, I'll be respectful,**_ Lina added.

"I can teach Kakashi-sensei," Lina said to the Hokage, being careful to identify the jounin instructor the same way that Sakura did. "But I want an exchange of information."

_Real respectful, Lina,_ Sakura muttered in her mind.

"Exchange? What is it that you want to know?" the Hokage cautiously queried.

"Do you know about the demon sealed inside Naruto?" Lina asked.

The balding man's eyes opened wide in shock and Kakashi became unnaturally silent as he stopped breathing for a moment.

"How do you know about that?" was the quiet question from the Hokage.

_**So they do know about it.**_ Lina folded her arms over her chest. "I fought a number of demons in my previous life," she said. "I know what I felt on the bridge in the Land of Waves. Some of the demon's power escaped from whatever seal Naruto has."

The Hokage straightened in his chair and his visage became sterner. "And you want to know about the demon?"

"That's not my first question," Lina said with a shake of her head. "Does Naruto know?" the sorceress asked.

"He does," the Sandaime answered. His face softened and he briefly closed his eyes. "For better or for worse, he does." When he opened his eyes, the old man was smiling warmly. "I'm glad to see your concern about your teammate."

Inside her mind Sakura blushed slightly but Lina simply grinned at the complement. "So how much do you know about the demon?"

"As much as anyone," the Hokage responded. "I would rather you not know any more about the demon," he added quickly. His gaze on her became speculative. "Perhaps if you talked to Naruto about it."

_Why would Hokage-sama suggest such a round-about method?_ Sakura wondered.

_**The demon is obviously considered a secret,**_ Lina replied. _**Naruto probably doesn't have anyone to talk to about it.**_

Sakura briefly imagined what it would be like to know that a demon was inside her body. _I wonder if he would __**want**__ to talk about it._

Lina dismissed the conjecture for the moment. "Then can you tell me about the seal?"

"What about it?" the Hokage asked in surprise.

"I've not heard of a seal that partially breaks," Lina said. "It's either whole or it's broken. But Naruto was completely normal after the demon's power stopped flowing."

"The seal is designed to allow the demon's chakra to merge with Naruto's."

"Chakra," Lina quietly muttered. _**I guess you could call it chakra.**_

_Demons don't have chakra?_ Sakura asked.

_**I'll explain later,**_ Lina answered her. "You're saying that the seal is supposed to do that?" she incredulously asked. "That sounds a bit dangerous."

"It was created by the greatest seal master that has ever lived in the Elemental Nations." The Third Hokage's voice had a note of sadness as he softy said this. "He created the seal to protect Naruto as well as possible."

"The seal was done by a human?" Lina asked doubtfully.

"Yes," the Hokage replied. Lina noticed a slight hesitation in his voice. "Why do you ask?"

"I encountered a seal like Naruto's… in my past life," Lina said, "but it was created by… a god, one of the Shinzoku." Rezo's seal and the six others like it had been created by Flare Dragon Ceipheed – not just any Shinzoku but the most powerful of the gods – and the result had been Ceipheed's destruction. It seemed unlikely to Lina that a human could seal a powerful Mazoku with any degree of success.

The Sandaime picked up his pipe and dug around in his robes, finally producing a long match. He turned his head away at an angle, relit his pipe, and took several slow, deep puffs. The tobacco smell grew in intensity as the elderly ninja continued to blow the pipe smoke into the room.

Lina realized that he was staring at something on the wall and she followed his gaze to a set of photographs of the four Hokage.

The Hokage suddenly sat down his pipe and stood. Lina started to rise from her chair but the Hokage waved her back down. "I will return momentarily," he said and left the room.

Lina looked up at Kakashi but the creasing of the jounin's visible eyebrow betrayed his own confusion.

When the Hokage returned a minute later he was carrying a thin bundle of papers. They were sheets of paper rolled up and tied with twine rather than a scroll which Sakura found odd as all official documents were done on scrolls.

"You are not the first ninja in Konoha to speak of 'majutsu,'" the Hokage said as he sat down.

"What?" Lina said in completely shock. Sakura felt even more surprised than the sorceress.

The Hokage picked apart the knot holding the pages as he continued, "The man who created Naruto's seal once told me that he studied sorcery. However, he was very secretive about the subject. He did leave behind his notes but …" The knot came undone and the sheets of paper unrolled in the Sandaime's hand. He paused for several seconds before laying the documents down and pushing them toward Lina.

Lina choked as she got a look at the notes. "This is written in one of the Ryuuzoku languages," the sorceress gasped out.

"Dragon race?" Lina nodded at the Hokage's question. "I have never found anyone who could identify the language let alone read it," he said.

"Specifically, it's the language used by the priests of the dragon race," Lina said. _**The language of the Shinzoku,**_ she said internally. "I can't read all of it; whoever wrote this knew much more of the language than I do. I really only picked up scraps from Filia and some of the other golden dragons at their temple," the sorceress said distractedly as she scanned the pages.

"What can you read?" the Hokage asked curiously.

Lina frowned as she read one section. Much of the technicalities of the spell – the 'how' and 'why' – escaped her understanding but she believed she understood most of the results. Her frown remained in place when she looked up from reading the notes.

_Hey!_ complained Sakura. _Don't frown like that at Hokage-sama!_

"This does create a seal but it requires human sacrifice," Lina said, causing Sakura's complaints to die.

"The sacrifice is the person who performs the jutsu." At that moment the Hokage looked much older. The sadness on his face made his wrinkles seem much deeper and there was tiredness in his eyes that Lina had not noticed previously.

"Oh," Lina said simply, uncertain how to respond to that revelation. "You called it a jutsu. Sorcerers usually use the term 'spell' for our techniques," she said to change topics.

"What the… man showed me was a chakra-based technique. Though he said that he developed it during his studies of sorcery."

_**Why would he make a jutsu instead of a spell?**_ Lina wondered.

_Maybe he was better with chakra than magic,_ Sakura suggested.

"If you understand this jutsu then you know that it summons a god," Lina supposed.

"That more than anything convinces me that you can read those pages," the Hokage said.

_**Is this all part of a test?**_ Lina thought with a slight grimace. _**How much does this old man actually know about majutsu?**_

"That piece of information is only known to two living people," the Hokage continued. "Well, four now," he added with a nod toward Sakura and Kakashi.

_Not even Kakashi knows about this jutsu,_ Sakura thought in amazement.

Lina slapped the pages down on the Hokage's desk. "Anyway," she said dismissively much to Sakura's annoyance, "this isn't meant to be used on a demon. This separates the target's spirit from their body. Demons don't have bodies."

"What do you mean? The… demon certainly had a physical form," the Hokage argued.

_**So he saw it physically appear,**_ Lina noted.

"Perhaps I should say that their spirits and bodies are not separate like a human's," Lina explained. "Their power is not separate either. Spiritual energy, physical energy, chakra – whatever you want to call it – it's all the same."

_That's what you meant earlier,_ Sakura said in comprehension.

"I have seen the remains of demons," the Hokage said. Something in his voice told Lina that he was choosing his words carefully.

_He didn't say he saw the remains of the demon sealed in Naruto,_ Sakura observed.

"Some types of lesser demons have bodies," Lina acknowledged. "The power I felt coming from Naruto was not that of a lesser demon. Mazoku, greater demons," Lina noticed the Hokage stiffen at her words, "do not truly have a physical form." The sorceress considered how to explain. "Did you fight the demon sealed in Naruto?"

The Sandaime sighed deeply. "It seems as if you are going to determine the identity of the demon regardless of my wishes," he grumbled.

_Something that was fought?_ Sakura pondered. _Something I might recognize? The only one is… Kyuubi no Kitsune._

"The Kyuubi? The Tailed Beast?" Lina asked, remembering something Sakura had told her before.

"Correct," the old man admitted.

Sakura shuddered within her mind.

"A Mazoku's appearance is a projection of their power into the physical plane." Lina thought for a moment what it would have been like for a village of ninja to fight against a Mazoku. "Chakra has physical energy mixed in," she murmured. "A physical component from the beginning. Ninjutsu would be useless against a Mazoku just like elemental magic."

"I shoved a Chidori through its paw. And that's all it did… went through… I couldn't see any effect." Kakashi had been quiet since the beginning of the conversation. His voice startled Lina and she looked at him over her shoulder. He was staring through the window behind the Hokage. Lina had seen that sort of look before and knew that he was not seeing anything in the present.

"It ended when the Fourth used the Shiki Fuujin. It summons the Shinigami, who reaches through the user's soul to grasp the opponent's. Both souls are drawn into the Death God's stomach and trapped there for eternity," the Hokage said, bringing her attention back to him. He sounded exhausted and his words were emotionless.

_**So the Fourth Hokage was a sorcerer,**_ Lina thought in amazement. "Except a Shinzoku couldn't possibly trap a Mazoku that way," she said quietly.

The Hokage nodded. "Instead it was sealed within Naruto."

"So the jutsu the Fourth used on the Kyuubi was different than the original he created." Lina looked at the papers lying on the desk. "The summoned god does the actual dividing of body and spirit not the jutsu. That would explain why it could affect a Mazoku. Perhaps it split the portion of the Mazoku in the astral plane from the portion protruding into the physical realm. The astral side would be sealed and the physical side…" Lina tapped her chin as she contemplated the issue. "If the Mazoku's consciousness was sealed then the power in the physical plane would disperse. The surrounding area would have been contaminated."

"It is now called the 'Forest of Death.'" The Hokage's voice did not seem as strained now that they were discussing something other than the sealing jutsu itself. "The animals inhabiting the forest have become more aggressive, larger, and stronger. We have not seen any effect on humans, aside from a certain amount of unnatural tension while within the area."

"A Forest of Death," Lina said thoughtfully. She continued to encounter parallels between her life and Sakura's. The fact that they were not exactly the same made them even more peculiar to her. "A human would be protected from corruption by their will. How big an area is it?"

"Nearly twenty kilometers in diameter," the Hokage answered her.

Lina's eyes widened. _**I was right, it is a high-level Mazoku!**_ she thought. Lina pondered where the Kyuubi fit in the Mazoku hierarchy. An area that large and the effects still present would mean at least a general or priest in terms of strength. Chaos Dragon and Hellmaster were ruined, leaving the priests and generals of Beastmaster, Deep Sea, and Dynast.

The 'Tailed Beasts' certainly made her think that they could be Beastmaster Zelas-Metallium's underlings but Xelloss was the only one of that level. Could the Beastmaster – the _Juu-ou_ – have gained enough power to create more Mazoku of that strength? Could it be the Beastmaster herself? Lina knew that Zelas-Metallium was said to take a canine form at times but a giant fox was not what she would have imagined. She also knew better than to leap to conclusions when it involved Mazoku, many of them were incredibly deceptive.

A more chilling thought occurred to her. Could Shabranigdo have resurrected and gained enough power to create more Greater Mazoku?

_Could it be Shabranigdo? _Sakura asked, shuddering again.

_**No, I would have recognized his power, **_Lina replied. _**We just don't have enough information to reach a conclusion.**_

"I wish I knew how long it has been," Lina said aloud.

"Perhaps if you were to give us some idea of the history of your land," the Hokage said. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out some paper and a pen. "You might also draw a map." He passed the pen and blank pages to Lina. "The more we know, the easier it will be to match against what knowledge we do have."

"The most well-known historical events… Ceipheed and Shabranigdo fought each other around five thousand years ago." Lina saw no sign of recognition of the names in the Hokage's eyes. "The greatest Shinzoku and the greatest Mazoku," she clarified, though the only reaction was a slight narrowing of the Hokage's eyes.

Lina shrugged and began drawing her map. The land was roughly triangular with a point in the northwest, another in the northeast slightly south of the first, and the last in the southeast slightly west of the second point. She wrote 'Desert of Destruction' across the eastern edge of the triangle. "Then the War of the Demon King about a thousand years ago," she said. Zefielia was in the northeast corner and Lina also marked the city of the same name.

Southwest of Zefielia, near the center of the map, were Saillune and its capital. Lina smiled a little, remembering the hyper, justice-loving Princess Amelia. "One of Shabranigdo's seven seals was broken and the Mazoku Barrier was created." On the west coast Lina marked the locations of Atlas City and Sairaag. The first brought a larger smile as she remembered meeting Gourry while she was traveling toward the city. The latter brought a grimace at the thought of the annihilated capital of the Lyzeille Empire. "The Aqualord, one of Ceipheed's fragments, was ruined at the end of the war."

Lina switched to another piece of paper. "The first map is the region where I grew up. This one will be of the world." On this she drew two large landmasses, one to the east and one to the west, which looked roughly like crescents with their horns touching. The circular area in the middle she labeled 'The Demon Sea.' Around the northern tip of the east continent she drew a diamond. "This is where the Mazoku Barrier was, surrounding the area shown on the first map. The barrier was destroyed a little less than a year ago," Lina said with a small smirk. "I never paid much attention to politics but any historical reference should include those events."

_**Not that I'm likely to have been credited for bringing down the Mazoku Barrier,**_ Lina thought ruefully.

The Hokage pulled the pages Lina had written on toward him, as well as the Fourth's notes which she eyed covetously. "I think perhaps this has been enough for one day," the Hokage said.

Lina enthusiastically nodded her agreement.

"Meet me Monday at the training grounds at nine," Kakashi said. "You can begin instructing me in magic then." The jounin's eye crinkled up in his usual smile.

Lina groaned in annoyance. _**You ready to take control?**_ she asked Sakura.

_No,_ came the subdued reply. _Just take us back home._

The sorceress frowned, wondering what was wrong with the other girl. She shook her head to help clear her thoughts. She was suffering from a slight case of information overload and assumed that Sakura was feeling worse since she had been learning from Lina as well as the Hokage.

Lina stood and gave the Hokage as polite a bow as she could manage before leaving the room.

oOo

Kakashi's eye followed Sakura as she left the Hokage's office. As soon as the pink-haired genin had closed the door behind, he turned to the older man behind the desk.

"She mentioned a barrier," Kakashi said. "Do you think we should have told her more?"

Sarutobi kneaded his forehead as if to drive away a headache. "Not at the moment." He looked down at the drawings that the girl had made. "I do not see anything on these maps that is recognizable. I do not want to take any chances, however."

"It's always difficult to read the more intelligent ones. We train them well," Kakashi said blandly which evoked a brief smile from Sarutobi. "But I've seen enough to know that she is loyal to her teammates."

The older man nodded in agreement.

"What about Sensei's other notes?"

Sarutobi shook his head forcefully. "Not yet. We must move cautiously. Her being on the same team as Naruto may very well be for the best but the council is already breathing down my neck in regards to Team Seven. The smallest thing could upset the agreements they have made."

Kakashi hesitated for a few moments. "Does history repeat itself?" he wondered.

The Third Hokage chuckled at the unanswerable question. He slightly shifted the papers in front of him to completely uncover the world map that Sakura had drawn. "How much time must have passed for the continents to change so drastically?" he mused.

oOo

Sakura continued to be withdrawn, leaving Lina in control of their shared body. The sorceress felt odd interacting with Sakura's teasing mother and reclusive father. Momoka quickly noticed that her 'daughter' was not reacting as much to her jibes and began crying about how her 'little baby' was growing up.

The worst part, however, had to be looking in the mirror. Lina had always loved her fiery orange mane; she had thought it to be one of her more attractive features. Now she was having to deal with Sakura's pink monstrosity when she brushed her hair. Her eyes were not much better. Her ruby eyes had always struck fear in the hearts of bandits with a glance. How was she supposed to scare anyone with a pair of sparkling emeralds?

Monday morning rolled around with Sakura still brooding despite Lina's prodding. Lina flopped down on the grass at the training grounds where they had done the bell test. She lazily watched the small white clouds drift across the blue sky and listened to the birds sing. Wildflowers dotted the open area around the Memorial Stone and buzzing bees darted from one bloom to the next. Close to noon, Kakashi finally arrived.

Lina started by giving Kakashi the same explanation of spells that she had given to Sakura and the jounin soon produced a Lighting with a silvery-blue tint. Lina noticed a light sweat beading on his brow.

"You were right, I am forming chakra," Kakashi commented. "It's rather difficult to overcome a lifetime's worth of training."

Lina nodded.

"How do I stop the… spell?" Kakashi asked. He waved his hand around and the ball of light followed it perfectly, hovering over his palm.

"You can will it away," the sorceress answered. "Or close your hand, which is just a physical act to help focus your will."

The glowing orb vanished from Kakashi's hand and Lina smiled in approval.

"Before we continue, you must first listen to beautiful young genius sorceress… Sakura's explanation of types of magic!"

Kakashi's visible eye rolled, causing Lina to smirk.

_**Ha! I can get a reaction from him after all!**_ Lina thought with satisfaction. "The first category is white magic. White magic uses power only coming from the sorcerer. White spells include healing and utility spells such as Lighting."

"Power only from the sorcerer?" the jounin questioned.

"That leads to the second type of magic: shamanism. Shamanistic magic calls on the nature spirits, the _seirei_, to create an elemental-based spell."

Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought. "That's quite a bit different from ninjutsu."

Lina nodded as she continued, "The five shamanistic elements are Fire, Earth, Air, Water, and Spirit."

"What about Lightning?" Kakashi asked.

"That's either Air or a mix of Air and Earth," Lina replied. "Build a charge in the air and then either create a path for it or build an opposite charge in the ground."

"And the other difference is Spirit… as an element?"

"Pure Spirit spells are the most difficult and the most potentially powerful in shamanism," Lina said. "I suspect that one reason ninja have developed seals to the extent that they have is to make up for the lack of being able to manipulate pure Spirit which is needed to combat Mazoku."

"Because demons don't have physical bodies you have to attack on them on a spiritual level?" Kakashi said. "I understand. So what's the difference between white magic and Spirit shamanism?"

"First, some high level Spirit spells call on elementally neutral _seirei_."

"And?" Kakashi prompted when Lina paused in her explanation.

"I was trying to keep my description simple to avoid confusion. Oh, well," Lina said with a shrug. "To affect the physical plane, spiritual energy requires another energy to act as a medium."

"Which is why shamanism calls on power from the nature spirits."

"Right," Lina confirmed. "White magic, on the other hand, uses what sorcerers call 'life force.' Shinobi call it-"

"Physical energy," Kakashi said with a small groan.

"Bingo!" Lina said with a cheeky grin. "The energies aren't combined like chakra but you can see why I didn't mention it at first. Masters of white magic can even take the life force of other organisms for their spells. And that's the introduction to types of magic," Lina finished. _**I'm not going to discuss black magic just yet,**_ the sorceress told herself.

_What is black magic?_ Sakura asked.

_**Oh-ho! You're speaking!**_ Sakura mentally snorted at Lina's taunt. _**Black magic draws power from Mazoku to produce stronger spells than shamanistic magic allows.**_

_You use demonic power?_ Sakura apprehensive asked.

_**In a very controlled fashion, yes.**_

_No wonder you aren't concerned about the Kyuubi!_ Sakura exclaimed.

_**What?**_ the sorceress replied in confusion.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, "do you think Naruto is dangerous?"

The jounin looked at Sakura, his face betraying nothing. "What do you think? You seem to know more about demons than anyone I've met."

"I…" Sakura was not sure what she could say in response. _You don't think Naruto is dangerous?_

_**You're asking me now? We're going to look pretty silly after asking a question like that.**_

Sakura flushed in embarrassment. _But it's the Kyuubi sealed in him!_ she exclaimed. _Its attack was the worst disaster that Konoha has ever faced._

_**I'm not worried as long as the seal remains intact,**_ Lina said. _**What we've learned of the seal is quite impressive. Its flexibility should make it more difficult to break.**_

_What if it does break?_

_**Don't get hung up on worst-case scenarios,**_ Lina chided. _**The question is what you asked first: do you think Naruto is dangerous to us because he can draw on the Kyuubi's power?**_

Sakura remembered Naruto's appearance on the bridge in Wave Country as the Kyuubi's power exuded from his body. He had looked more feral and more dangerous but even then she had not been afraid of him. Even though the blond had been incredibly angry, he had remained in control of himself. Nothing had changed since then, except for her knowledge of the demon inside him.

"I guess not," Sakura said.

"The Fourth was my jounin instructor when I was a genin," Kakashi stated. "I have faith in his seal and in Naruto. As far as Naruto being dangerous… well, any ninja should be."

Kakashi's bland tone as he said the last part caused Sakura to giggle.

"What's the next step in my majutsu training?" Kakashi asked.

"Continue practicing the Lighting spell until you're sure you aren't creating chakra," Lina answered. "Then I'll start teaching you some basic shamanistic spells."

oOo

The first mission that Team Seven was given after returning from the Land of Waves was a D-rank mission to weed a fairly large vegetable garden owned by an old woman.

Lina took to the assignment with relish.

"**Flare Arrow!**" the sorceress called, not for the first time. A small red bolt of energy formed at her fingertip and flew through the air. The spell flew straight and then veered downward at a mental command from Lina to land on a weed and burn its way down to the roots. The stem and leaves of the undesired plant shriveled from the heat.

"Why are you doing that?" said an annoyed voice.

Lina turned to look at the speaker, Uchiha Sasuke. The black-haired genin stood with his dirt-stained hands at his side as he stared at her. Naruto was behind him, squatting low and tugging at a weed, and Kakashi stood off to the side with his habitual book in hand.

_Sasuke-kun is talking to me! _Sakura squealed.

Lina relinquished control before rolling her eyes.

"I'm practicing," Sakura said with a smile.

"Why practice a weak jutsu?" Sasuke scoffed.

"It's about increasing my control," Sakura replied uncertainly. Her uncertainty was not because of her answer but because she did not know why Sasuke would be concerned; he had never paid attention to her training before. "And releasing small amounts of power at a time allows me to practice longer."

Sasuke frowned and turned away from Sakura.

The pink-haired girl was about to ask him if he knew a better method of training when she saw his hands make a series of seals.

"**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!**" Sasuke said and spat a small ball of fire from his mouth. The boy had wisely chosen a target away from any other plants. The flame, which had lost much of its form as it traveled, exploded on contact with the soil. The weed was turned to ash and the dirt around its location cracked and blackened. He grunted at the outcome and performed the technique again to much to the same effect.

"No fair! Teach me a Fire jutsu too!" Naruto yelled.

Sakura glanced at the blond-haired genin and saw that he was pointing his finger at Kakashi.

"I didn't teach Sasuke or Sakura," their jounin instructor replied.

"But I don't have any ninjutsu attacks," Naruto complained. The short boy crossed his arms and pouted.

"You can perform the Kage Bunshin, which is a jounin-level technique," Kakashi said.

"Naruto's got a point," Lina said. "Shadow clones aren't really a replacement for techniques."

_Do you really want to get involved in one of Naruto's arguments?_ Sakura asked.

Lina ignored Sakura's question and continued to stare at Kakashi. Sasuke turned his attention toward the jounin, also waiting to see the answer. Kakashi looked at the three genin and sighed. "Alright, if you finish this up quickly, I'll teach each of you a new jutsu."

_Me too?_ Sakura smiled at the thought of learning a jutsu aside from the standard three taught at the academy.

"Yes!" shouted Naruto. He brought his hands together and made his usual cross seal. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" Sakura counted three dozen shadow clones before the group started moving, making it impossible for her to tell exactly how many there were. Naruto's clones rushed through the garden and their sandals kicked up dirt as they spread out in search of weeds.

"Naruto! Don't run around like that!" Sakura yelled. "You're making a mess!"

"We'd better make sure he's only pulling weeds," Sasuke commented as he walked toward a trio of clones that were arguing about a particular plant.

Sakura blew out a breath of frustration and began her own patrol of the overactive clones.

Half an hour later the three genin gathered around Kakashi. "The first step is to determine your elemental affinity," the jounin said. He reached into one of the pouches on his hip and pulled out four small pieces of paper. He handed one of the slips to each of his students and held the last between two fingers. "These are made from a special type of paper that reacts to chakra." The piece that the jounin held suddenly crinkled. "It reacts differently for each affinity. Mine happens to be Lightning."

Sakura held up her paper and sent her chakra into her fingers. The card burst into flame at the same time as Sasuke's. The pink-haired girl yelped in surprise and dropped the paper, watching as it quickly turned to fine ash. Naruto's piece had not dramatically reacted like Sasuke's and hers but when she looked more closely Sakura saw that it had split down the middle.

"Two fire affinities and one wind," Kakashi remarked.

"Wind loses to Fire," Sasuke said as he smirked at Naruto.

Naruto growled at Sasuke and lunged toward the black-haired genin but Sakura caught his jacket collar. "Stop it, Naruto," Sakura ordered.

_**It's not solely Naruto's fault,**_ Lina said to her.

Sakura frowned and let go of the blond when he stopped struggling against her hold.

Kakashi pulled two tightly-rolled scrolls from one of his vest pockets and a third scroll from a different pocket. He tossed one to Sasuke. "It isn't a Fire technique but you should be able to handle it. That Lightning jutsu will give you a non-lethal option which you are lacking." The Uchiha genin grunted and opened the scroll.

Kakashi pitched the next scroll to Naruto, who grinned widely and quickly unrolled it. "The Fuuton jutsu described there will give you another ranged option since your throwing accuracy is low," Kakashi said. Seeing that Naruto was too busy reading to respond, he quickly turned to Sakura and threw her the final scroll.

"Sakura, I've given you something different," the tall jounin said. "Your potential for genjutsu was noted by the academy instructors so I've given you the technique I used on you during the bell test." Sakura winced, remembering the appearance of the illusionary Sasuke and how easily she had succumbed to the jutsu. "Remember, though, that genjutsu isn't like ninjutsu, to be most effective the illusions must be significantly altered depending on circumstances. The best genjutsu are made-"

"When you know personal details about your opponent," Lina interrupted. Kakashi nodded.

_You know about genjutsu?_ Sakura asked.

_**I know about illusions,**_ Lina corrected. _**But I've never studied them in depth.**_

_Why not?_

_**They're pointless against bandits and useless against Mazoku,**_ Lina explained.

_But genjutsu will work well if I memorize information about potential opponents in advance._ Lina mentally shrugged. _Wait! Kakashi-sensei already had these scrolls prepared!_ Sakura belatedly realized as her suspense about affinities and new jutsu lessened. She looked at her instructor with annoyance and noticed Sasuke glaring suspiciously at Kakashi as well; Naruto was still busy reading his scroll.

_**Maybe he was waiting for one of you to ask,**_ Lina suggested.

_Another one of his lessons?_ Sakura wondered. _Or is he just being lazy?_

"Have fun," Kakashi said with a smile and then he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto rolled up his scroll and stuffed it into the pocket of his orange jacket. He slowly made several seals and then yelled out: "**Fuuton: Kuudan!**" He took a breath and blew out a wind that caused some plants several meters away to bend slightly. The most spectacular result, however, was Naruto being blown off his feet. He landed on his back about a meter from where he had been standing.

"Don't practice here, you'll damage the garden!" Sakura shouted.

The blue-eyed genin sat up and chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura sighed at the sight of the blond sitting on the dirt. "You might use your chakra to stick to the ground until you've learned the jutsu better," the pink-haired girl recommended.

Naruto blinked. "Oh, that'll work on the ground too," he said in comprehension. "That's great!" The blond smiled happily.

Sakura barely resisted the urge to slap the idiot upside his head.

_**He does miss the obvious at times,**_ Lina thought with an internal snicker.

Sasuke began to leave, his scroll tightly clenched in one hand.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called. The black-haired boy stopped and turn toward her. "Do you want to train together?"

Sasuke gave her an odd look. His expression changed to another smirk, this time directed towards his pink-haired teammate. "Genjutsu doesn't work against the Sharingan," he stated.

"That's… that's good," Sakura said hesitantly. _What's wrong now?_ she wondered.

The corners of Sasuke's mouth turned downward and he walked away. Sakura bit at her lip as she watched him depart.

_**He sees everyone as competition, **_Lina said.

"You wanna train with me instead?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No," Sakura said in a dull voice.

Sakura left the weeded garden also, not looking back to see Naruto's shoulders slump.

oOo

During the next couple of months Kakashi quickly learned to control his spirit separate from his chakra. The jounin turned out to be as lazy at learning as he was at teaching, however, so Lina only taught him a handful of spells. Sakura also continued practicing the Lighting spell but her grasp of magic progressed slowly. Lina did her own studying of chakra but mostly she spent the time Sakura allowed her to be in control practicing spells to increase her spiritual energy.

As far as missions went Team Seven was experiencing a similar situation as before their mission to Wave Country. The biggest difference that Sakura noticed was that Sasuke attempted to goad her as well as Naruto into competing with him. The pink-haired genin tried to avoid confrontations with Sasuke but it was difficult to ignore Lina when the sorceress knew a spell that made their tedious assignments easier.

After one such mission, Kakashi and Sasuke both quickly disappeared, leaving Sakura alone with Naruto which was an increasingly frequent and annoying situation. Three goggle-wearing kids popping out from under a box painted to look like a rock did nothing to improve her mood.

"You said you'd play ninja with us today!" the black-haired boy that seemed to be leading them shouted at Naruto.

"Why would a ninja 'play' ninja?" Sakura questioned in a tired voice.

Naruto scrubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"Never mind," Lina said as she took control. "I'll play too."

_What?!_ Sakura thought indignantly. _I don't want to be seen playing with Naruto and these kids!_

_**You've been getting grumpy lately,**_ Lina told the kunoichi. _**So it's time for a change of pace.**_

_Playing ninja is not going to make me less grumpy,_ Sakura grumbled.

_**You never know until you try,**_ Lina replied. "So what are your names? And how do we play ninja?"

All three kids struck poses. "I'm Moegi, the sexiest kunoichi!" the girl with light brown hair said.

"I love algebra! Call me Udon!" The boy with the runny nose sneezed after making his declaration.

"And I'm the village's number-one ninja! Konohamaru!" the black-haired boy enthusiastically shouted. "Together, we are…"

"The Konohamaru Ninja Corps!" the three shouted simultaneously.

Lina broke down and began laughing so hard that she nearly fell over. The sorceress grabbed Naruto's sleeve to keep herself upright. She kept imagining the three kids wearing spandex and armor painted in primary colors. She could not remember meeting people who dressed that way but the image would not go away.

_You're really strange at times, you know that?_ Sakura said privately.

"It's supposed to be impressive not funny," Konohamaru said petulantly.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Lina answered. She straightened and let go of Naruto. "I needed a good laugh."

She wiped the tears of mirth that had begun forming from her eyes.

Naruto smiled uncertainly at her while the three younger ninja sulked.

"That gave me an idea for a game," Lina said. She darted forward and grabbed Moegi around the waist, lifting the girl with her right arm. "I am the evil sorceress Naga the White Serpent! I have kidnapped the sexy member of the Konohamaru Corps!" she grandly proclaimed.

The two younger boys looked surprised for a moment before catching on. They grinned at Lina and then gasped in mock horror.

Naruto looked confused. "I thought you said your name was Lina-"

Lina hit the blond's head with her free hand. "It's someone else!" she yelled. "Wind which blows across eternity," Lina whispered. "Grant me thy freedom. **Levitation.**" Blue light limned the bodies of the two girls for a moment before fading. Lina and Moegi floated off the ground and the sorceress used the spell to drag them a couple of meters into the air, eliciting a gasp from the girl under her arm. The three boys on the ground stared upward in surprise.

_You can fly?_ Sakura asked in an astonished tone.

_**Several Air spells allow flight,**_ Lina replied. "You'll have to try hard to rescue her! Ohohohoho!" Lina's laugh caused Naruto and the Konohamaru Corps to shiver.

"Save me, Konohamaru-kun!" Moegi called in encouragement.

Naruto gathered the other two boys in a huddle and quietly issued some orders with much gesturing. _**With my current abilities, casting another spell while Levitation is going won't be easy,**_ Lina contemplated, _**but if it's another Air spell…**_ Lina prepared herself to use a small lightning spell to surprise Naruto with.

Lina floated a little higher and backwards, toward where the street that the boys stood on intersected with another. She heard but ignored a gasp of surprise beneath her. Sakura, on the other hand, noticed Sasuke sitting on a limb of a nearby tree. The Uchiha boy was studying the flying girl intently.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out.

_**Sakura, you idiot!**_ Lina internally shouted.

Sakura suddenly noticed that Lina's flight spell had ended when she had taken control and that she and Moegi were falling. She twisted to protect the smaller girl but luckily landed on something relatively soft.

"Get off me!" a male voice yelled.

Sakura scrambled off, pulling Moegi with her. She had landed on a young man who looked to be a year or two older than her. He wore dark, loose-fitting clothing. His face was decorated with triangles at his cheeks, chin, and forehead and more paint wound around his eyes and down his nose.

A blonde girl with her hair tied in four short stiff-looking ponytails was next to him. She was about the same height as the boy and was dressed in light clothing over fishnet. The girl was looking at Sakura curiously.

Both teens wore forehead protectors with the symbol for the Hidden Sand, the boy on his forehead and the girl around her neck.

"Sorry about that," Sakura apologized. She gave the boy a slight bow.

The boy stood and snarled angrily. "Are you looking for a fight?"

"No," Lina responded immediately, "are you?"

_Lina,_ Sakura whined. _I was trying to calm him down._

_**Hmph,**_ the sorceress responded.

Naruto, Konohamaru, and Udon came running up, the boys on the other side of the Sand ninja as the two Konoha kunoichi. The foreign boy removed the long, bandage-wrapped bundle from his back and rested it on the ground, with his right hand on top. "Don't mess with me, girl," he said threateningly. Moegi hid behind Sakura's legs.

"Kankurou," the female Suna ninja said in a warning tone.

"Don't you dare hurt Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted and charged toward the older boy.

The Sand shinobi stretched out his left hand and curled his fingers, causing Naruto to slip. "I hate weak, bratty midgets," he sneered.

_Chakra strings,_ Sakura noted. _And Naruto still isn't using his chakra properly._ "Put chakra in your feet and legs when you attack that way, Naruto," she chided her teammate. "He shouldn't have been able to trip you with just chakra strings."

The foreign ninja returned his attention to Sakura. "And I really, really hate flat-chested know-it-alls," he said.

The kunoichi next to him buried her face in her hands.

Lina felt her old anger at the familiar insult. _**I am not flat!**_ she fumed. "**Mono Volt!**" the sorceress shouted angrily and pointed at the boy. A bright yellow glow appeared at her fingertip. An instant later a jagged yellow line of lightning leapt from her fingertip with a loud crackle. The spell hit the Sand shinobi's right forearm, causing his arm and hand to spasm. The odd bundle dropped to the ground.

_Was that really necessary?_ Sakura questioned.

_**That remark didn't make you angry?**_ Lina asked in turn.

Sakura was not sure how to respond.

"That's enough," a cold voice said. Sakura looked toward the source of the voice and saw a short, red-haired boy with a gourd on his back standing upside down on a limb in the same tree that Sasuke sat in. He had dark circles around his eyes and an expressionless face. A _hitai-ate _marking him as another Suna ninja was wrapped around a long sash he wore.

"She started it!" the older Sand shinobi argued. Naruto growled at the Sand boy as he stood up.

"I don't care," the redhead said. "I'll kill you."

His tone was still cold and Sakura could detect no anger in his voice, but his statement made the two Sand ninja on the ground shudder. Konohamaru and Udon slid behind Naruto, using him as cover as they peaked around his legs warily.

"Sorry," the older boy said in a placating voice. He moved slowly to his wrapped package, picked it up, and replaced it on his back.

The girl spoke also, "Me too, I'm really sorry."

The boy in the three disappeared from his position in the tree in a swirl of sand. He reappeared between the two other Sand ninja. His face still unchanged, he stared at Sakura. "What's your name?" he asked her. Sakura could feel Moegi pressing harder against her legs.

"Li-" Lina coughed to interrupt herself. "Haruno Sakura," she said.

_You almost said 'Lina Inverse!'_ Sakura thought accusingly. _That's it; I'll handle the rest of this conversation._ Lina grumbled but complied.

"Pleased to meet you," Sakura said and gave the red-haired boy a slight bow.

The short Sand shinobi continued to look at her.

_Creepy,_ Sakura thought.

_**Something about him…**_ Lina did not finish her thought.

"Will you be entering the chuunin exam also?" the emotionless boy asked.

"I'm not sure. Our jounin instructor hasn't mentioned it," Sakura admitted. "Is that why you are here in Konoha?"

"Seems like you don't know much after all," the taller boy from Suna said.

Sakura discovered that the boy's actions had indeed made her nearly as angry as Lina. "Shut up, you!" she shouted and pointed her finger at him. The Sand shinobi flinched from her, giving Sakura a satisfied feeling. Lina laughed in her mind.

"Perhaps we will meet again," the redhead said and began striding away. "Come," he ordered and the other two Sand ninja were quick to follow him.

Sasuke swiftly dropped down out of the tree. "Wait," the black-haired genin called. "What's your name?"

The redhead gave him a glance but said nothing as he and the other Sand genin jumped away.

Sasuke's face tightened in anger. He looked at Sakura and then leapt in another direction. Sakura sighed in despair.

"That was amazing!" Moegi chimed.

Sakura looked down at the girl to see the kunoichi-in-training gazing back adoringly. "Uh… thanks," she said.

"Can you teach me to fly and shoot lightning?" the younger girl asked eagerly.

Sakura smiled at her enthusiasm. "Not yet," she answered which caused Moegi to pout.

_**You aren't so grumpy now,**_ Lina observed. _**I knew it would work.**_

_What part do you think worked?!_ Sakura questioned the sorceress. _Falling on top of a stranger or maybe nearly getting into a fight with him? No, it must have been meeting a creepy redhead,_ she said sarcastically.

_**All of it,**_ was Lina's mischievous reply.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Somehow her mood had been improved even though Lina had dragged her into a tense situation.

"What do you think, Konohamaru? Should I enter that chuunin exam thing?" Naruto asked in an excited voice.

"Yeah!" the younger shinobi exclaimed. "You and Sakura-san will be unbeatable!"

Sakura turned a glare on the two excited boys but they ignored her. "I guess we can find out about it from Kakashi-sensei tomorrow," she said.

oOo

Sakura walked happily down one of the many streets of Konoha, arm-in-arm with her One True Love, Uchiha Sasuke. The black-haired boy had a small smile on his face that made Sakura blush every time she looked at him.

Everything was peaceful and calm until they turned a corner and saw Yamanaka Ino standing in the middle of the street. Her rival had an angry scowl on her face.

Sakura turned her head toward Sasuke to ask him if they could go a different way but he was no longer next to her. Instead of having his arm linked with her own, as it should have been, he was standing at the side of the street. He was holding a small white flag with a green Hidden Leaf symbol.

Sasuke waved the flag back and forth slowly. "Yay," he said in a bored voice.

Sakura looked back at Ino and found something truly disturbing. Her friend was no longer wearing the normal purple outfit with wrappings that she normally did. Instead, she was wearing a dark purple bikini. Her… assets had increased to ridiculous portions, straining at the thin material of her top. She also wore high-heeled purple boots. Purple shoulder-guards with massive spikes and a black cloak completed what could only loosely be called her clothes.

Ino pointed at her imperiously. "At last I have found you, my greatest rival!" She took a step toward Sakura and her chest… bounced. The blonde flung a hand into the air and shouted, "**Mega Vraimer!**"

Everything shook as a loud rumble occurred. Some movement caught Sakura's attention and she looked toward the Hokage Monument. Small pieces of stone were falling from the carved face of the Fourth Hokage. Suddenly, a pair of arms erupted from the stone ears. The chin exploded in a shower of rock also and two legs appeared. The arms and legs were spindly-looking appendages, not at all proportional to the rest of the carving.

"Ohohoho!" laughed Ino. Sakura recognized the laughter as something similar to what she had heard Lina make. But Lina's was a pale comparison. This laughter set all her nerves on edge in an instant and made her shiver uncontrollably.

The arms and legs on the Hokage's face flailed around for a few seconds. Then they bent backward and pushed against the cliff. More stones fell from around the carved face as it slowly pushed itself away from the rest of the monument. The Fourth's face broke completely free and then fell. It tumbled end over end as it came back in contract with the cliff. The monstrosity quickly reached ground level and continued to roll. Its path took it into the village where it crashed through various buildings, sending wood and stone flying into the air.

Ino's laughter increased in volume as she walked toward Sakura, each step causing the blonde-haired girl to… bounce.

Shock set in and Sakura found herself unable to move.

"Yaaah!" the pink-haired girl shouted as she violently threw her sheets off and sat up in her bed.

_What the hell was that?!_ Sakura thought. She was panting heavily from fright.

_**A nightmare,**_ Lina said, _**made from a mixture of your memories and my own.**_

_Your memories?_

_**Your friend Ino was dressed and acting like my ex-partner Naga,**_ Lina explained.

Sakura shuddered. _That laugh…_

_**It's worse when a dozen clones of her are doing it at the same time,**_ Lina said.

_I don't want to know any more!_ Sakura declared. The pink-haired girl got out of her bed and tidied it, smoothing out the sheets and pulling the comforter back into place. She suddenly gasped aloud. _You and your stupid memories! Today is the chuunin exam!_ A flurry of activity followed as she dressed.

oOo

Sakura met with the other two genin of Team Seven and they made their way to the ninja academy. They had not been back to the familiar building in months but Kakashi had told them to bring their applications to Room 301.

When they entered the building they immediately found a conflict. Two older teenagers were blocking the other genin from entering a room that had a sign reading '301.' Sakura immediately recognized the genjutsu on the sign for what it was.

One of the teens backhanded a girl with black hair tied up in two buns. "We're doing this for your benefit," he said. "If you can't get by us then you're definitely not ready for this test. If you take it when you are unprepared then you may end up quitting as shinobi… you may even die."

Sasuke stepped forward. "I agree but you will remove the genjutsu and let me pass," the black-haired Uchiha stated while glaring at the two older genin.

_There's something odd about those two,_ Sakura thought.

"So you noticed," commented the same teen who had knocked the girl down. "But you still have to get by me." The teen dropped to the floor in a spinning motion and braced himself with his hands. His right leg came around in a kick aimed at Sasuke.

Sasuke began his own kick in retaliation but both kicks were caught and stopped by a boy with a bowl haircut who had been on the ground a moment earlier.

_**He's very fast,**_ Lina noted.

"What happened to our plan of not attracting attention?" a boy with pale eyes asked the genin who had caught the kicks.

The bowl-haired boy ignored the question and walked up to Sakura. Sakura noticed the girl that seemed to be with them shake her head in annoyance.

"My name is Rock Lee!" the boy proclaimed. "What's yours?"

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura answered with mounting trepidation.

"You're cute! Let's go on a date. I'll protect you until I die, Sakura-san!" Lee gave her a thumbs up and his teeth sparkled as he smiled at her.

_**Isn't that nice? You've picked up another admirer,**_ Lina said in what Sakura considered to be a sadistic manner.

His incredibly thick eyebrows, his hair cut, his green spandex outfit, and even the way that his Leaf forehead protector was tied around his waist like a belt: Sakura found everything about his looks to be repellent. "No way. You're lame," she told him. Lee sagged in defeat and Naruto chuckled.

"And I don't need protection," Lina added.

Lee's eyes widened beyond than their normal roundness. "Yosh!" he shouted. "You truly burn with the fires of youth!"

"Er… Thanks?" Sakura said.

"I must prove myself in battle to the lovely and fiery Sakura-san!"

Naruto cocked his head at the green-clad genin's declaration and frowned thoughtfully.

"Enough flirting, Lee," Lee's female teammate said.

The pale-eyed boy moved toward Sasuke. "You," he said, "what's your name?"

Sasuke smirked at the older genin. "Uchiha Sasuke. And yours?"

"Hyuuga Neji," the other boy responded. "Uchiha, is it?" He turned away from Sasuke. "It will be interesting to see your fate," Neji commented as he strode down the hallway. His two teammates joined him.

As the other team walked away Sakura noticed that the two boys who had been blocking the doorway were gone and their genjutsu had been released. The room's real number of '201' was now clearly visible.

Naruto scowled at Neji's back until the other team turned a corner and they were no longer visible.

"Hyuuga Neji," Sasuke said in contemplation. "He's nothing like Hinata." A small grin on his face showed the black-eyed boy's excitement.

Team Seven moved down the passage. The hallway led to a large room with a two-story high ceiling. Stairs at either end of the room led up to a walkway giving access to the third floor.

Lee was waiting from them, looking down from the third floor walkway. "Fight me, Uchiha Sasuke," the older genin demanded. He jumped down, landing lightly on the wood planks of the second floor. "I want to test my techniques against the renowned Uchiha clan and prove myself to Sakura-san." He took a fighting stance with his left side leading.

_See what you've done now,_ Sakura internally commented. Lina snorted in reply.

Lee winked at Sakura, making her scream and throw her hands up in an effort to ward off the freakish vibes.

"No way!" Naruto shouted. "I'll take you on instead."

"I have no desire to fight you," Lee said with a frown. "It is Uchiha that interests me."

"I don't care about that!" Naruto charged straight at Lee and Sakura sighed. His speed made it obvious that he still was not using his chakra to boost his muscle strength.

Naruto swung his right fist forward in a wide arc. Lee deflected it easily with his leading hand, sending Naruto's strike toward the floor. The blond genin slapped his hands against the floor and swung his left leg around in a reverse kick. "**Konoha Reppuu,**" the green-clad boy called as he ducked under Naruto's kick with a spinning movement and swept through blond's support. Naruto was sent tumbling across the room.

Sakura winced as the blue-eyed genin collided with the wall. _This guy is strong,_ she thought.

_**Not just strong,**_ Lina said in response.

Lee returned to his ready stance, holding his left hand behind his back. "You cannot defeat me; I am the strongest genin of the Hidden Leaf."

Naruto groaned in pain from his awkward position against the wall.

"Sounds fun," Sasuke said and immediately darted forward.

"**Konoha Senpuu!**" Lee yelled, jumping into a reverse kick. Sasuke avoided the high kick by crouching but the other genin continued his spin and sent another kick. Sasuke moved his arms to block. Lee's kick connected despite Sasuke's attempt to block and the young Uchiha flew through the air.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said in concern as her teammate crashed into the floorboards. _What's going on?_ The pink-haired genin wondered. _That should have been blocked._

_**Lee is just too fast for him,**_ Lina commented.

_What do you mean?_ Sakura asked.

Sasuke rose, a trickle of blood flowing from his lips and Sharingan _tomoe _slowly spinning in his red eyes.

_Now Sasuke-kun will show him what he can really do!_ Sakura thought excitedly.

_**You think so?**_

Sasuke's second charge was met by a strong kick that sent him flying into the air. Sakura gasped in shock.

Lee bent his knees and leapt after Sasuke. "**Kage Buyou,**" he called as he aligned his body directly underneath Sasuke's. "Even if you can read my movements with your Sharingan your body is not trained enough to keep up. There's no trick to my techniques, they're simply taijutsu."

_**We still have a long way to go to match up to the faster ninja,**_ Lina observed.

The bandages around Lee's arms began to unwind and trail behind him. "Now I'll prove that hard work can defeat even a genius."

Sakura heard a whistling sound like a kunai moving through the air. Her hands reacted immediately. She did not have her holster that she wore during missions but she was a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf and never completely unarmed. Her right hand darted behind her back, through the slit in her long top, and removed a small kunai from its sheath at her waist. She tossed it with smooth precision and intercepted…

"A pinwheel?" Sakura asked in confusion. She was momentarily distracted from the overhead battle by the sight of her kunai pinning the toy to a wall.

"Yosh!" shouted an exuberant voice directly behind Sakura, causing her to jump in surprise.

Lee also reacted to the voice; his arms flailed in panic and he accidentally sent Sasuke and himself tumbling uncontrollably toward the ground. Sakura moved to catch her teammate but both he and Lee suddenly disappeared from their mid-air positions. Before she could blink a man appeared in front of her, holding Lee and Sasuke by the backs of their clothes.

_**Even faster than Kakashi,**_ Lina thought in amazement.

The man looked like an enlarged version of Lee with even thicker eyebrows. His clothes were nearly identical aside from the vest he wore like all higher-ranked ninja. On a boy close to Sakura's age the outfit was bad enough but on an adult man it looked even worse.

"I've never seen anything like him before," Naruto said in astonishment as he stood.

_**I've seen worse,**_ Lina said, _**but not by much.**_ Sakura shook her head, deciding not to ask the sorceress what she meant.

"You must be Kakashi's students!" the man said loudly. He dropped the two boys he was holding. Sasuke looked annoyed while Lee was still on the verge of panicking. The older ninja looked at Sakura appraisingly. "I wonder how you would fair against our own dear Tenten."

Sasuke climbed to his feet and distanced himself from the two spandex-wearing ninja.

"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"People refer to us as 'The Eternal Rivals!' I've won fifty times to Kakashi's forty-nine." The man smiled widely and his teeth glinted. "I'm stronger than he is."

"Isn't Gai-sensei great!" Lee shouted enthusiastically.

"It's wonderful to hear my lovely student praise me," Gai said. "But, Lee…" The tall jounin stuck his student suddenly, sending the boy to the ground. Sakura and her teammates watched in shock as tears flowed down Gai's cheeks as he knelt next to where Lee fell. "You almost broke my rules. The chuunin exam must take precedence; therefore your punishment will occur afterward."

Lee looked up at Gai, his own tears falling steadily. "Sensei… I…"

"I understand! Youth knows no boundaries!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Teacher and student hugged each other tightly, making Team Seven openly gape.

_**Okay, this might be worse than that guy who dressed like Naga,**_ Lina admitted.

_Now there's a mental image I didn't need right now,_ Sakura said crossly.

Gai released his embrace and stood up. "You should all go to the testing room now." He handed Sakura's kunai back to her, causing the pink-haired girl wonder when he had retrieved it. "Good luck!" he said and gave them another twinkling smile before vanishing.

Team Seven was still recovering from their first encounter with Gai when Lee rose to his feet. "I lied before," the boy with the bowl-cut confessed as he retied the wrappings around his arms. "The strongest Leaf genin is someone else on my team. But I aim to defeat him and you," he said to Sasuke, "so be prepared." Lee jumped back up to the third floor walkway and was quickly out of sight.

"I guess being a top-of-the-class genius isn't everything, huh?" Naruto said scathingly.

"Naruto!" Sakura said in rebuke.

_**You can apply all the names you want to a person but it won't change who they are,**_ Lina said.

Sakura frowned slightly; Lina's comment seemed to have many different levels to it and she did not understand it as well as the sorceress' usual remarks.

"Shut up," Sasuke growled, his face set in a scowl. "I'll beat him next time."

"Sure you will," Naruto responded sarcastically. "You saw his hands also, didn't you?" he asked in a more quiet tone. "He must have trained a lot harder than you."

Sasuke was quiet for a few seconds. A smirk appeared on his face. "This is becoming interesting," the dark-eyes boy said.

Naruto chuckled and Sakura smiled at seeing Sasuke's morale improve.

"Let's go," Sasuke said.

oOo

Kakashi was standing outside Room 301, waiting for Team Seven to arrive. "So all three of you did come."

"Does it matter?" Sakura asked.

"The exam is actually taken as a team," the silver-haired jounin explained. "Telling genin it is an individual choice is part of the test. But I expected all of you to show up. Remember that you're Team Seven and stand proud. Good luck."

The three genin of Team Seven smiled at Kakashi and walked through the doors to the room where their chuunin exam would be. It was a normal-sized classroom and packed with genin of various ages and from various hidden villages. Many of them turned to look at Team Seven as they entered the room.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino yelled as she jumped on the Uchiha from behind. "I've been waiting for you!" The other two members of Team Ten, Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru, watched her antics in resignation.

"Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted.

"Just wait for it," Lina said calmly.

_Why are you breaking in?! _Sakura privately demanded.

_**I didn't mean to say that out loud,**_ was Lina internal answer.

Shikamaru as well as Ino looked at Sakura curiously. Chouji continued munching on his bag of chips.

"Wait for what?" the blonde-haired girl questioned.

"Great, now what?" Sakura tried to think. She could feel blood rush to her cheeks as embarrassment and anger rose. _What is going on?!_

_**Wish I knew,**_ Lina responded.

"Are you feeling well, Forehead Girl?" Ino asked with a slight frown.

Sakura was considering how to respond when she noticed what Lina had been trying to communicate. Not trusting herself to speak at the moment, she caught Ino's eye and tried to discretely flick a finger toward Sasuke's face. Ino, still hanging from the black-eyed genin's neck, did not understand immediately and Sakura tried again to redirect her attention.

"Get. Off. Me. Ino," Sasuke growled, his face set in a severe frown.

Ino slid from Sasuke's back but quickly latched onto his arm. The black-haired Uchiha glared at the appendage but said nothing else.

The three members of Team Eight approached the small gathering. "So all nine of us rookies are here," Inuzuka Kiba said. The small, white dog on top of his head barked and Kiba sniffed at the air. "What happened to you, Sakura?" he asked in his usual loud voice.

Sakura felt her eye twitch in irritation. "What do you mean by that?!" she asked indignantly.

"All of us have changed but Akamaru says you smell a hell of a lot more dangerous!" Akamaru barked as if to emphasize the point and the young Inuzuka glared at her.

_Now I __**smell**__ dangerous,_ Sakura thought in annoyance.

_**I guess ninja-trained animals have good senses,**_ Lina thought smugly.

"My _kikai _bugs have also informed me of a divergence," Aburame Shino quietly added.

"That's because-!" Sakura slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth to prevent him from continuing.

Sasuke chuckled, which earned the Uchiha some looks even odder than the ones the rookies were giving Sakura. "I wonder if you'll be able to keep up with us?" Sasuke mockingly asked.

"We've done a lot of training!" Kiba shouted in return. "We won't lose to you!"

"You rookies really should calm down," an older boy said as he walked toward the three teams. He had grey hair tied in a ponytail below the strap of his Leaf headband and wore a pair of wire-frame glasses. He had a small grin on his face that Lina instantly disliked.

"Who are you?" Ino asked suspiciously.

"My name is Kabuto. But more importantly, most of the participants are nervous and your noise is going to attract the wrong sort of attention."

"Why should we listen to you?" demanded Naruto.

"This is my seventh time taking the exam, so you could say I've got a bit of experience." He paused and studied the younger ninja. "I can share some information with you if you like, using these nin-info cards." Kabuto pulled a deck of cards marked with the 'Nin' character from a belt pouch. He squatted and placed one of the cards on the floor. The face of the card was blank until the older genin sent some chakra through his finger into the card. "I have over two hundred cards; this one, for example, shows how many genin are taking the chuunin exam by country of origin." The nine rookies crowded around to look at the older genin's card. A map of the Elemental Nations appeared with a bar chart and numbers identifying the participants from each of the shinobi villages.

_An interesting use of genjutsu,_ Sakura noted. Lina's attention was still focused on the teen himself; his grin had not altered in the slightest during his speech. Sakura felt her fist move into a cocked position and she forced it back down. _What are you trying to do?!_

_**I don't like him,**_ Lina responded.

"Do you have information on individuals?" Sasuke asked the grey-haired boy.

"Sizing up the competition, are you? Naturally, I have cards for all the examinees." Kabuto's cocky attitude was a little annoying but Sakura could tell that it really was just the way he was smiling that irritated the sorceress. "Who is it you want to know about?"

"Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji from the Leaf," Sasuke said.

The older genin swiftly pulled two cards from the deck. He sat them down and applied his chakra. "Teammates under Maito Gai. The third one on their team is Tenten. Twenty D-rank missions and twelve C-rank. Rock Lee's taijutsu has improved greatly in the last year, nothing else impressive. Hyuuga Neji is a genius in all categories, though his weapon skill is slightly less than the rest of his abilities."

"And that weird guy from Suna," Naruto mentioned.

"He has red hair and carries a gourd on his back," Sasuke quickly clarified.

"I believe that would be Gaara of the Desert," Kabuto said. A third card joined the two on the floor. The photograph displayed by Kabuto's genjutsu did indeed show the boy that they had encountered. "Eight C-rank and… Oh my, a B-rank mission as a genin. Teammates are Kankurou and Temari. The interesting thing is that he came away from all of his missions without a scratch." Kabuto paused to let that sink in and even Lina was impressed by that piece of information. "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound… Well, Sound is a minor village that has just formed… But basically these villages send only their best genin to chuunin exams held in other countries."

Sakura could almost feel the tension in the air from the other Leaf rookies.

Naruto flung his index finger toward the bulk of ninja in the room. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Sakura-chan and I won't lose to any of you bastards!" Naruto shouted at the top of his voice.

_Why did he include me?!_ Sakura mentally complained.

Lina silently laughed in response. To throw aside mental pressure that way took a lot of willpower and it was not often that the sorceress had encountered someone that could match her in that respect. She wondered how large the Hikari no Ken would be in the blond genin's hands. It had created a blade significantly larger for her the one time she had wielded it than it ever had for Gourry, the weapon's owner. The image in her mind of Naruto wielding the Sword of Light brought a surge of longing for Gourry to the sorceress and she sighed.

"Moron, you just made everyone your enemy," said Shikamaru acidly. Most of the genin in the room were staring at Naruto and not in a pleasant manner. The blond-haired Uzumaki folded his arms behind his head and smiled.

Lina snorted. "They were our enemies the moment we entered the room." The sorceress' comment – out of character for Sakura – made several of the rookies study her again.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

Sakura noticed movement above her and looked upward. She tracked a boy wearing camouflaged pants who threw two kunai down at Kabuto. The pink-haired kunoichi instantly had a kunai of her own in hand but she stopped herself from throwing it. In the crowded room, a bad deflection could easily cause an injury.

The older Leaf genin did not seem to need her assistance anyway as he dodged backward. Another attacker, this one with a mass of what looked like sand-colored hair on his back, charged forward and swung at Kabuto. The glasses-wearing Leaf ninja dodged again, this time by swaying his upper body.

A moment later the lenses Kabuto's glasses cracked and some small pieces of glass fell to the floor.

"He dodged it completely," Sasuke said, "so why…?"

Kabuto removed his glasses to inspect them and his legs suddenly gave out. The grey-haired genin dropped to his knees and coughed violently, spitting up a small amount of blood.

Naruto rushed to Kabuto's side. "Hey! Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

The two ninja that had assaulted Kabuto stood proudly in front of him and a girl had joined them. Sakura saw that all three wore _hitai-ate_ marked with a musical note. "Put this on one of your precious cards: the three Hidden Sound ninja, definite future chuunin," said the boy who had thrown the kunai.

"Alright, everyone settle down!" shouted a commanding voice. Smoke filled the front of the classroom and dissipated to reveal a large number of Konoha ninja.

The head examiner, who introduced himself as Morino Ibiki, began instructing the genin regarding the first exam. Sakura noticed that Kabuto's grin was still firmly in place when he stood up. Sakura took a slip of paper and went to the assigned seat. She was feeling sorry for Naruto until the announcement that the test would be scored by teams. That made her worried. When Ibiki declared that the whole team whole fail if an individual had zero points, she became annoyed.

Sakura noted the extreme difficulty of the questions as she began working out her answers. Lina did not know all of the details that Sakura did but many of the questions required mathematical calculations. Between the two of them those questions were swiftly answered. _I hope Naruto is doing alright._

_**We can help him,**_ Lina said.

_What do you mean?_

_**If he can't get the answers then we'll send them to him.**_

_We can't cheat!_ Sakura forcefully replied.

_**Of course we can.**_ Lina rolled her eyes. _**Which is worse: Naruto getting zero points or you getting two subtracted?**_ While Sakura thought about that, Lina continued enticingly, _**Besides, the examiners will never be able to catch me using magic.**_

Sakura bit her lip. _Okay, what's your plan?_

_**An illusion.**_

_Like how Kabuto used genjutsu for his data!_ Sakura said in understanding.

_**Exactly,**_ Lina confirmed.

Sakura finished writing the last answer and surreptitiously glanced at Naruto who was obviously panicking.

Lina took control and rested her hands on either side of the exam paper. The sorceress chanted in a voice that she could barely hear herself. "Light from deep within. Come forth to guide together our minds. **Illusion.**" She felt the connection to Naruto's mind formed and she imagined the answers written down on Sakura's page appearing faintly on top of Naruto's. The blond genin nearly jumped out of his chair. He looked around wildly then bent over his test, surrounding it with his arms.

Lina was worried for a moment but she saw Naruto's pencil moving and assumed that he had caught on to what was happening.

_You do realize he probably doesn't have a clue who is doing it?_ Sakura thought with disdain.

Lina would have replied but the concentration required to keep the spell going was immense. It was not a spell that she had much practice casting. The sorceress felt sweat bead on her brow.

oOo

Ino smirked to herself as she watched her rival. The pink-haired girl's pen had stopped writing a minute ago and so it was time to use her jutsu. Sakura had been acting strangely but even if her rival had changed as much as Kiba had implied, there was no way for Sakura to defeat Ino's technique. She made her hand seals as subtly as possible and without uttering 'Shintenshin no Jutsu' she activated the technique, sending her mind through the astral plane and toward her target.

Sakura's body jerked as Ino's mind entered it. Ino noticed a strange tugging, almost as if she were using Sakura's chakra to perform a jutsu. She dismissed the odd feeling and picked up the test in front of her, quickly reading and memorizing the answers that Sakura had written.

_How long do you think this will take? _a voice that sounded suspiciously like Sakura's asked in annoyance.

Ino blinked. _What in the world?_ she thought.

_Wait, you're not Lina,_ the voice said. _Who the hell are you?_

_Sakura?_ Ino asked in confusion. _You shouldn't be awake!_

_**Something strange is going on,**_ yet another mental voice said. This one was totally unrecognizable to the blonde-haired girl.

_Who is that?!_ Ino wondered in shock.

_Ino? Is that you?_ Sakura asked. _What are __**you**__ doing in my head?!_

Ino's view of the testing room swirled into a mix of colors. Ino blinked and found herself looking at a completely different location.

The blonde found herself standing at the top of some cliffs that continued as far as she could see to her right. At the bottom of the cliffs, foaming waves lapped at the rocks. Deep blue water stretched from the rocks to the horizon. A sparse forest of evergreens marched right up to the precipice. To her left as she faced the ocean was something very different.

"Ino!" she heard Sakura say. Ino turned around and saw Sakura standing there looking just as she normally did: red dress, black shorts, and her forehead protector tied on top of her pink hair.

"What's going on, Sakura?" Ino asked.

"I should be asking you that!" Sakura snapped in reply.

"This isn't my mind, it's yours." Ino waved at the scenery. "I've never seen this place before."

"Well neither have I," Sakura stated. "Besides, you haven't explained what you're doing in my head!"

"Ya-ho!" called a voice from above them. Ino looked upward and saw another girl sitting on a tree limb. The girl looked to be a few years older and had long reddish-orange hair and red eyes. She wore a pale yellow tunic, red leather pants, and black gloves and boots. Her shoulders were armored and a black cloak with red lining was attached to the shoulder-guards. When she jumped out of the tree and landed softly, Ino noticed that she was fairly short for her age and had a slim body.

"Is that what you look like, Lina?" Sakura asked the girl.

'Lina' looked down at her clothes and reached a hand over her shoulder to pull her hair forward so she could see it. She smiled at her hair for some reason and flipped it back. "Yup, this is me!" she happily replied.

"Okay, so who are you? And what is this place?" Ino asked in a demanding tone.

Sakura sighed. She held a hand out toward Lina and said: "This is Lina Inverse, my previous incarnation."

Ino blinked in confusion.

"And this place," Lina said, "is the Bay of Death." Lina pointed her finger.

Ino looked again at the oddity in the landscape. A few meters from where she stood, the normal scenery suddenly ended. A perfectly formed bowl had been cut into the land, the midpoint a little ways from the shoreline and the bottom quite a bit deeper than the ocean. The trees on the far side were a bushy blur of green. The obviously artificial bay was filled with the clearest water that Ino had ever seen.

"It's pretty," Sakura said, echoing Ino's thoughts.

Lina rolled her eyes. "It looks that way because nothing can live in it. Not even the smallest organism. And the bodies of dead creatures… dissolve."

"So what happened here?" Ino questioned.

"What do you mean?" Lina said nervously.

"Scenes that get dragged from a person's memories during mind-linking techniques are usually places of importance," the blonde explained.

"Importance?" Lina said in a thoughtful voice.

Ino's vision blurred again. The previous sunny scene was replaced by a dark, oppressive panorama. The sky was filled with thick, black clouds and there was little illumination. She stood near another perfect crater cut into the ground. This time it was in the middle of a city – or what had once been a city. The scattered rubble and remaining ruins indicated that it had been a large town but not a single building was intact. This crater was not nearly as large as the previous one but Ino felt discomfort when she looked at it.

Sakura was gaping at the environment and Lina looked disgruntled.

"What happened to this place?" Sakura whispered.

Lina did not answer.

"And what do you mean by 'previous incarnation?'" Ino inquired.

"She's my reincarnation," Lina said while pointing at the pink-haired girl.

"That doesn't answer my question!" Ino argued.

"Is this where you saved the world?" Sakura quietly asked.

Lina looked surprised for a moment. The fiery-haired girl's visage saddened. "No, **this** is where I almost destroyed the world to save my friends." Her answer left Ino and Sakura gawking.

Sakura spluttered for a few seconds. "You used that… black magic here?"

A brief surprised look crossed Lina's face again. It was replaced by the most knowing grin that Ino had ever seen. "No, the Giga Slave is far beyond black magic."

Ino shivered and she thought she felt a fourth presence in Sakura's mind, something unknowable and indescribably powerful.

Ino was thrown from Sakura's body and back into her own. She shuddered from the experience. Glancing at the clock, she saw that not as much time had passed as she feared. She still had time to switch to Chouji and Shikamaru and fill in their tests. She decided that she would have to wait until later to think about everything that she had seen and heard in Sakura's mind.

The blue-eyed girl quickly scribbled down the answers that she had memorized.

She found herself staring at what she had written down for the fifth question: 'You who crosses between sky and earth. Gently flowing water. Freeze Arrow.' The blonde kunoichi erased it and wrote the correct answer, wondering where those words had come from.

oOo

Sakura's and Lina's minds were a jumble when Ino's intrusion ended. Lina felt the Illusion spell snap and she wondered if Naruto had seen any of her memories as Sakura and Ino had.

_Ino is going to be full of questions,_ Sakura grumbled.

Lina remained silent, not wanting to discuss her memories of Sairaag with the kunoichi.

After a tiresome wait, Ibiki revealed the tenth question with its own special rules: anyone who did not attempt to answer failed along with their teammates, anyone who answered incorrectly would never be able to take the chuunin exam again.

_**Can he do that?**_ Lina wondered.

_He could probably make the Leaf genin abide by it,_ Sakura answered. _That's all that matters for us._ Sakura was confident that she could handle any question that might be asked. _Can you cast another Illusion spell on Naruto?_

_**Probably.**_

Individuals began raising their hands and quitting. Their teammates followed them out of the room as their numbers were called out.

Sakura hoped that Naruto would not crack under the pressure.

_**I think you're underestimating his will,**_ Lina said.

Both Lina and Sakura were surprised to see the blond-haired genin slowly raise his hand. When he slammed it down on the desk in front of him, Sakura sighed in relief and Lina laughed.

"Never underestimate me!" Naruto shouted. "I'll take the damn question no matter what! Even if I'm stuck as a genin, I'll become Hokage anyway! You don't scare me!"

Ibiki scowled at the loud blond. "I'll ask you once more. This is your entire life on the line and your last chance to back down."

"I will follow my unbreakable words," Naruto responded, his voice filled with the same determination that it had when he swore to protect Tazuna. "That's my way of the ninja."

Ibiki looked around the room, prompting Sakura to do the same. She could only see the faces of the other genin in the same row but none of them showed the slightest amount of nervousness now.

"Very well," Ibiki said. "Everyone still here… passes the first test!"

"What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked.

"The choice whether to take it or not was the tenth question," the examiner answered with a smile.

"What was the point of the first nine then?!" shouted the Sand kunoichi who Kabuto's information had identified as being named Temari.

"Their purpose was to test your skill at gathering information. Basically, to see how well you could cheat." The man removed the scarf covering his head. Nearly all of his head was scarred from burns and screw holes, obviously from torture. "Information is vital to a shinobi and at times anything will be done to acquire it."

_So it was all about cheating,_ Sakura thought with a little displeasure.

_**Should have expected there to be some deception involved in any ninja exam,**_ Lina said.

"I still don't understand the final question," Temari complained.

"The tenth question was the true purpose of this test. In real situations you cannot back down from a mission no matter how dangerous it may be. Those pieces of trash who fear an uncertain future do not deserve to become chuunin. Those still here made the proper decision and are ready to face your futures. So, I offer you my congratulations and wish you luck."

"Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

At the same time as Naruto shouted, something came crashing through one of the windows. Spinning black cloth was all that Sakura could make out until kunai tied to the corners of the cloth darted out, pulling it open to reveal a banner. The dark banner had been wrapped around a woman wearing a tan trench coat and short skirt over a fishnet bodysuit.

"This is no time for celebration!" the woman shouted. "I am Mitarashi Anko, the examiner for the second test! Prepare yourselves!" The banner behind her proudly introduced her in the same manner.

The loud entrance immediately reminded Sakura of Naruto. Most of the examinees were left stunned by her actions.

"Twenty six teams left?" Anko asked Ibiki as she finally noticed the number of genin remaining. "Whatever, I'll cut them in half at the very least," she said and licked her lips in a disturbing fashion that made Sakura shudder. "Meet me at Training Area 44 at nine o'clock tomorrow morning for the second part of the chuunin exam! Prepare yourselves as you would for a mission!" Smoke exploded from Anko's position and she vanished, leaving behind a coughing and annoyed-looking Ibiki who was trying to wave the smoke away.

The genin slowly recovered from their Anko-induced shock and began to leave the room. Naruto bounced over to where Sasuke was sitting and began telling the dark-haired boy something in an excited voice and with many hand movements.

Sakura tried to sneak out with the crowd but Ino caught sight of her. Sakura sighed as the blonde girl came toward her. "Not here," the green-eyed kunoichi said and grabbed her rival's arm. She dragged Ino through the hallway and into another classroom which was empty.

"Okay, ask away," Sakura said.

"What exactly is wrong with you?" was the first thing out of her rival's mouth.

Sakura frowned at Ino's phrasing but shrugged dismissively. "I've been remembering my past life. Or something like that. You met Lina."

"So now you've got another personality behind the wide forehead of yours? All the time?!" Ino looked at Sakura as if she did not recognize the girl in front of her.

"She's been there since we were kids," Sakura responded. "You've just never noticed." The blonde's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Recently, she's been helping me in battles."

"Is that why Kiba thinks you're more dangerous?"

"Probably."

_**Definitely,**_ said the internal redhead.

Ino thought for a minute, hand on her hip and eyes fixed on Sakura. Her concerned look faded at last and she grinned but it made Sakura wary instead of relieved. "I'm not going to lose Sasuke-kun to an insane girl."

"I'm not insane, Ino-pig," Sakura asserted. "Lina has proven a lot of things to me."

"And you've told Sasuke-kun all about your little mental problem?" Ino asked with a small smirk.

Sakura nearly growled at Ino's continued insults. "He knows most of it."

"How do I know I'm even talking to Sakura?" the blue-eyed kunoichi scoffed.

"Oh, I think you'll know when I'm doing the talking, Ino," Lina said with her typical confidence as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay, that definitely wasn't Forehead Girl," Ino admitted, eyeing the pink-haired girl warily.

Sakura returned her body to a more relaxed stance. "Lina does talk sometimes but I seem to have ultimate control over my body. Please don't tell anyone else," she pleaded.

Ino sighed. "Alright but you owe me one. Now I just have to think of the perfect way for you to get Sasuke-kun to go on a date with me!"

Sakura did growl at that but Ino waved jauntily and skipped from the classroom.

_Time to go home and prepare,_ Sakura thought tiredly.

_**Tomorrow should be fun,**_ Lina said.

With an examiner like Anko, Sakura did not think that 'fun' was the right word, but at the very least the test should give her an opportunity to learn more about what was expected of a chuunin.

End of Chapter 4

oOo

**Replies:**

RobotPirateNinja re. "How strong is Kyuubi compared to a Mazoku? How does it compare to say, Xellos?" – A few hints here, a couple of chapters from completely being revealed.

Fluffysnowgirl – You missed Naga-Ino. Ohohoho!

CnA Productions re. "The character of the Naruto cast remains true the the original, but succeeds in escaping the same old cliches." – Thanks. I hope I continue to do so.

MockV re. "Has Sakura, at this point, seen the Sexy no Jutsu?" – I suppose she saw it when Naruto used it on Iruka in class. I'm not sure Lina will think about it, though. The Naruto/Gourry angle continues to develop, so we'll see.

zenihua re. "although i'm completely lost as to who the characters from slayers are" – Hmm… I think I'm introducing Lina well and Xelloss will get some introduction soon (although he's meant to be mysterious). Gourry keeps getting mentioned – but I think I'm covering his connection to Lina also. Aside from those, the other mentions are more for humor than anything.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed also.

**Notes:**

I realized that I have been remiss in not thanking some websites that I use for research on spell chants and such (just Google them for links): Slayers Universe 4.1, QP's Slayers Page, and KanzakaDex.

I didn't plan to write a chapter without any real action but it became longer than I expected. So this ended up being a chapter with a lot of humor and next chapter will be full of action.

I'm sure people are really wondering about the Kyuubi at this point. I did not intend to throw so many questions and false trails at the reader at one time. There have been hints and answers will start coming in the next two chapters. I removed what I could from the conversation between Sakura/Lina and Sarutobi but most of it has to be in this chapter. There really is not anywhere else for it to go in the story.

Let me know if you think the map details in that scene are annoying. I am trying to learn what readers find interesting and what they do not.

I noticed in the jutsu elements superiority chart (Water Fire Wind Lightning Earth Water) that Earth and Lightning really should be switched. I'll try to follow Kishimoto's diagram for jutsu but don't expect a Raiton to do anything against an Earth spell. I'll need to figure out exactly what rules to follow because a lightning spell against an Earth jutsu… I'm seriously considering ignoring that diagram, it's giving me headaches. Yet another post-timeskip mess.

White magic – you'll find a different explanation on just about every website you visit. I've given you my variation. All I really know is that it is **not** the opposite of black, that's divine magic. The only main character in the series that uses divine magic is Filia; it was not even available to people living inside the Mazoku Barrier. Luna might have been an exception but we know so little about her.

Murasaki the romance novelist – a little tip of the hat to Murasaki Shikibu, author of _Tale of Genji_, not something I actually enjoyed reading but it's considered good literature.

_Daimyo_ – feudal lord  
_Juu-ou_ – appears to be the Japanese title for Beastmaster Zelas-Metallium, literally 'Beast-king'  
_Kikaichuu_ – destruction bugs

_Shiki Fuujin _– Death Demon Consuming Seal  
_Katon: Housenka no Jutsu _– Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique  
_Fuuton: Kuudan _– Wind Release: Air Bullet – user blows out a stream of air which forms a fast-moving sphere, targets are thrown aside on contact but causes little direct damage – name derived from Shukaku's Renkuudan  
_Konoha Renpuu_ – Leaf Gale  
_Konoha Senpuu_ – Leaf Whirlwind  
_Kage Buyou_ – Shadow of the Dancing Leaf  
_Shintenshin no Jutsu_ – Mind Body Switch Technique

Hikari no Ken – Sword of Light, proper name: Gorun Nova, one of the Dark Star weapons. Gourry's inherited weapon that in its most basic use turns willpower into a blade of energy.  
_Levitation_ – shamanistic air spell, slow flight spell, also can affect anything caster is in contact with – **my chant**, derived from Bram Gush: Wind which blows across eternity / Grant me thy freedom / Levitation!  
_Mono Volt_ – shamanistic air spell, basic lightning spell, more for stunning than damage  
_Illusion_ – shamanistic spirit spell, manipulates what the target sees and hears, if strong enough the illusion can control their actions, requires continued concentration by caster – **my chant**: Light from deep within / Come forth to guide together our minds / Illusion!  
_Freeze Arrow_ – shamanistic water spell, **my chant,** derived from Demona Crystal: You who crosses between sky and earth / Gently flowing water / Freeze Arrow!

**Omake:** What Will Not Happen… tsk.

Neji activated his Byakuugan and stared at the shaking girl in front of him.

"You cannot hide anything from my eyes," he told Hinata. He proceeded to verbally rip into his cousin, causing her shaking to increase.

And suddenly, her trembling ceased.

"Neji-niisan," she said quietly, "you mercilessly attack people and put all the blame on Fate, not even taking responsibility for your own actions."

Hinata looked him directly in the eyes and he saw no more hesitation.

Her voice grew stronger. "In other words you are absolutely, positively evil! In the name of Love, Truth, and Ramen-"

"Go, Hinata!" an annoying blond encouraged from the catwalk.

"Ramen?! What the hell are you talking about?!" shouted Neji.

"Forfeit now or face the Hammer of Justice!"

(Amelia is a character from Slayers that has an appearance and family situation somewhat similar to Hinata but her character is completely different.)

**Misc:**

_What is black magic?_ Sakura asked.

_**Oh-ho! The sleeper has awakened!**_

(Typed it, debated it, and in the end had to change the wording.)

"Alright, maggots settle down!"

(Ibiki the drill sergeant… hmm…)


	7. Chapter 5: Failure in the Forest!

"Naruto" is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. "Slayers" is the creation of Kanzaka Hajime.

Warning: This story has spoilers for certain content of Slayers, NEXT, and TRY.

Update: Minor grammar fixes. Minor change to hand seals.

**A Different Voice**

Chapter 5: Black Magic? Failure in the Forest of Death!

Posted: 7/23/2007

Updated: 8/31/2007

Training Area 44 turned out to be a forest. The trees had massive trunks with moss and vines growing from them. The trees were close enough together that the foliage blocked almost every bit of sunlight. The forest was surrounded by a tall fence with warning signs. A small open-sided shed stood next to the north gate – which had a sign identifying it as Gate 1 – where the participants for the second exam were gathering. Several exam officials were seated inside the shed, behind a hastily-constructed wooden desk.

The examinees were spread out raggedly, loosely grouped into their separate teams. Somehow, the members of Team Seven were near the front of the crowd. Sakura did not immediately see any other Leaf ninja that she recognized. Team Eight was not a surprise as they usually faded into the background when Kiba was not being loud. Ino, on the other hand, usually preferred being at the forefront of any gathering. Sakura scanned through the group of seventy-eight genin and finally spotted Team Ten near the back of the crowd. Ino's light-colored hair made it relatively easy to pick out among the common black and brown.

Sakura was still concerned about Ino's reaction to the revelation regarding Lina but she did not know when she would get another chance to talk to the blonde privately.

"This, boys and girls, is Training Area 44," Anko said in a loud voice. Many of the genin had been speaking softly to each other but they quieted and gave the examiner their attention. "Also known as the Forest of Death!" she happily proclaimed.

"The place where the Kyuubi… died," Sakura breathed. Sasuke looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Naruto, on the other hand, glanced at her before looking away with a grimace. So far Sakura had avoided talking to Naruto about the Kyuubi. She still was not completely comfortable with the knowledge that the greatest of the Bijuu was sealed in her teammate's soul.

"The reason why it's called the Forest of Death is something that you will discover for yourselves… very soon." The examiner for the second test had a grin on her face and Sakura could have sworn that she was close to giggling.

Naruto set his hands on his hips and wiggled theatrically. "'You will discover for yourselves very soon,'" he said in a nasal, mocking tone that made Sakura giggle. "You ain't scaring me, lady!"

"Oh, you're very spirited." Anko grinned at the blond genin. The kunoichi snapped her right arm straight and a kunai flew into her hand. She flung the kunai with speed and precision.

Sakura winced at the sound of her own kunai striking Anko's. The two steel weapons landed point-first in the dirt, rather close to Naruto's feet. _Maybe I should stop doing that,_ Sakura thought. Naruto's eyes were opened wide in surprise as he goggled at the pair of kunai.

"My, my, what do we have here?" Anko rhetorically asked from her new position behind Sakura.

_**She's not as fast as Kakashi,**_ Lina idly noted.

_As if that makes a difference._ The pink-haired girl felt sweat gather on the side of her face. She looked up at Anko and smiled nervously.

"A little girl who likes playing with sharp objects?" the examiner questioned. "Just what we need more of!" the dark-haired kunoichi chirped. The fact that she did not sound the least bit sarcastic made Sakura shiver. Anko patted the top of Sakura's head as she moved away. The examiner bent and retrieved the two kunai then tossed one to Sakura.

_**I don't think she's much like Naruto,**_ Lina said. Sakura was quickly changing her opinion as well.

Naruto scooted closer to Sakura, leaned over, and whispered, "She's a freak."

Sakura tried to shush Naruto but apparently the blond genin had not been quiet enough. Anko turned toward him and gave him another smile that made him gulp noisily.

"Before we can begin the second exam," Anko said as she reached into her trench coat and pulled out a sheaf of papers, "I'll need each of you to sign one of these waivers."

"What are those for?" Naruto's face scrunched up suspiciously.

"These forms are so I won't have to take responsibility," the examiner answered. "Because some of you will die during this test," she continued with a large smile that seemed to be directed mostly toward Naruto. She handed the stack of papers to the blue-eyed genin who took them nervously.

_**Deaths during a test?**_ Lina thought in shock. _**Sometimes I wonder how sane this ninja village is.**_

Naruto grabbed one sheet and passed the rest to Sakura. The pink-haired girl took one also and divided the stack in two, handing one half to Sasuke and the rest to an unfamiliar Waterfall genin behind her.

_It's not as if we're forced to become ninja, _Sakura replied to the sorceress' comment. _And the test was our own choice as well._

_**There has to be a better way than risking your lives just to gain a title, **_Lina grumbled.

"Now to explain the second test," Anko said while the forms were being distributed. "In short, this will be an all-out scroll battle. There are two types of scrolls." The kunoichi pulled a scroll with yellow borders that was marked with the kanji 'Ten' from the right front pocket of her coat. "The Heaven scroll…" With her left hand she brought a second scroll from her other pocket; this one had black instead of yellow and the character 'Chi' written across the middle. "… and the Earth scroll. There are twenty six teams, so thirteen will be given a Heaven scroll and the other thirteen will receive an Earth scroll."

The examiner replaced the two scrolls in her pockets and pulled out another. She unrolled this one, display a roughly drawn map of the forest. "To pass the test you must bring one of each scroll to the tower in the middle of the forest within the time limit of one hundred and twenty hours."

_So that's how the test will cut our numbers in half, _Sakura realized.

"Five days?!" screeched Ino.

"What about our supper?!" Chouji complained in a louder voice than Sakura had ever heard him use.

"There's plenty of food in the forest," Anko replied. "Plenty of danger also," she added sadistically.

"We didn't pack for an extended mission either," Sakura murmured. Sasuke grunted and Naruto folded his arms across his chest and frowned.

_**Another test within a deception,**_ Lina said. _**She said to prepare for a mission but not what type. Some more experienced teams will have seen through that.**_

Sakura had packed for a day-time mission. She had plenty of kunai and shuriken, some medical supplies, a relatively large lunch – adding a couple more pouches at her waist – and a pair of water bottles but little else. She disliked the fact that she had overlooked the possibility of the test taking longer than a single day.

"Finally, I will tell you the ways that you can fail this test," Anko said. "Obviously, if you fail to reach the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Secondly, if one of your teammates gets killed or lost; all three of you must make it to the tower. Thirdly, you are not allowed to open the scrolls until you reach the tower."

Naruto squinted at the dark-haired woman. "What happens if you do open them?" he asked.

"That is a secret!" Anko winked at the short, blond shinobi.

Sakura felt Lina's anger boil at the response. _Why are you getting so riled up?_

_**I hate that phrase,**_ Lina snapped in reply. _**I'll shove a himitsu up her…**_ Sakura decided to ignore the sorceress until she was more rational.

"So turn in your team's waivers in exchange for a scroll and a gate number."

A black drape was drawn around the shed and teams entered one by one. When Team Seven entered, Sakura noticed that the map Anko had displayed was lying on the desk. She studied it more closely even though it had little detail.

"Either of you bring a compass?" Sakura asked her teammates.

Sasuke did not reply, which Sakura took to mean 'no,' and Naruto shook his head.

There was a river bisecting the forest that could be followed to the tower but every other team would have noticed the same thing. Considering how the trees looked from outside the forest, Sakura was afraid that it would be difficult to tell the position of the sun once underneath the thick foliage. Night would likely bring its own set of problems in a forest contaminated by the Kyuubi's power. Just navigating the ten kilometer stretch of trees between gate and tower was not going to be trivial task, let alone finding and defeating a team with a different scroll.

Team Seven received a Heaven scroll and was told to proceed to Gate 12. Sasuke placed the scroll inside his jacket. They followed one of Anko's assistants to the gate, which was over fifteen kilometers away from Gate 1. The exam participants were allowed to walk to their starting points so that they would not tire themselves in advance. Considering that some teams had to travel completely around the forest to the opposite side, it took some time for everyone to be in position.

Team Seven arrived at Gate 12 shortly before noon. They ate only half of their packed lunches, knowing that they would have to forage for the rest of their food. Mid-afternoon the exam official received a signal and he unlocked the gate, allowed them to enter, and locked the gate behind them.

oOo

The forest was as dark as Sakura had feared. The ground was damp and covered with molding leaves which made the air stink. A few scraggly bushes were scattered across the forest floor. The woods were far quieter than they should have been. No cicadas chirping or birds singing. The silence added to the oppressive feeling exuded by the gloom.

Lina was in a state of mind that Sakura could only call 'battle ready' which prompted the kunoichi to follow suit. The genin's green eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings, watching for the slightest hint of movement.

Team Seven walked cautiously through the woods. They had decided before entering that they would save their energy for battle. They did have five days to retrieve an Earth scroll and travel to the tower so time was not the most pressing concern yet.

Sakura reached into her shuriken pouch with her left hand and pulled three of the throwing weapons out. She arranged them between her fingers and rubbed the metal lightly. The solid feeling of the shuriken gave her a small amount of comfort. The soft footsteps of herself and her teammates as they treaded on the wet and decaying leaves were the only sounds that she could hear.

A faint scream echoed through the forest, making Sakura glance around nervously. "That sounded like a man," the pink-haired genin muttered.

_**I wonder how well sound carries in this place.**_

_Normally I would say that came from quite a ways off,_ Sakura replied. _But this forest is definitely odd._

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "We'll be fine." The blond laughed quietly but Sakura could hear the apprehension in his voice.

Team Seven walked a few more steps before Naruto stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked him.

"I need to take a leak." There were several large trees around them and Naruto walked over to one and began to unzip his pants.

"Not in front of me you don't, ramen-for-brains!" Sakura resisted the urge to fling a shuriken at the blond.

Naruto chuckled in embarrassment and moved behind the massive moss-covered trunk, hiding himself from view.

When Naruto came back a minute later, Sakura could tell that something was 'off' about him even before she noticed that his shuriken holster was on the wrong side. "Henge!" she shouted even as Sasuke delivered a back-hand to the bogus Naruto's face.

The fake was smashed into the tree that Naruto had disappeared behind. He wiped blood from his mouth. "Damn! How did you-"

Sakura threw the three shuriken she was holding. Her target's eyes widened and he countered with his own set of throwing stars. Two of Sakura's shuriken were deflected but the third lodged in the imitation's left upper arm. Sakura easily dodged the third shuriken thrown by the enemy and pulled a kunai from its sheath.

"Bitch!" the other ninja shouted as his henge dissolved, revealing him to be a Hidden Rain shinobi wearing goggles and a breathing mask. Blood began soaking into his clothes, making a dark stain around Sakura's kunai.

Sasuke charged forward and the Ame genin leapt to meet him.

_**Let's see if I can disable him,**_ Lina internally said to Sakura. "You who crosses between sky and earth," she chanted.

Lina heard the ring of metal on metal as Sasuke and the other ninja clashed. The two shinobi jumped away, the black-haired Uchiha to her left and the enemy genin to her right. They released their kunai at each other. The two knives met in the air and glanced off each other.

"Gently flowing water," the sorceress continued. She lifted her right hand, the palm glowing with a blue light.

Sasuke's hands burred, swiftly making seals, and he rushed forward again.

"Damn it!" the Rain genin shouted in frustration. He threw a handful of slim daggers at Lina and leapt backwards.

"**Freeze Arrow!**" Lina shouted as two icy blue arrows darted from her palm. _**Your turn!**_ She immediately released control to Sakura who gathered as much chakra as quickly could in her legs and dived to the side.

The freezing arrows hit several of the Ame ninja's daggers, making ice instantly form around them. The ice-encased weapons fell to the ground. Two other daggers landed where Sakura had been standing.

"**Raiton: Shokkingu Haji!**" Sasuke called as he finished his hand seals and pulled his hands apart. Sakura saw faint lines of blue electricity crawl across his right hand. She felt the black-eyed boy gather a large amount of chakra in his legs and then he was airborne, catching the Rain genin and delivering a palm strike to the larger boy's body.

The jutsu did not cause a tremendous visible reaction but the enemy's arms and legs jerked as his muscles clenched uncontrollably. The ninja from the Land of Rain landed on his back, his body making a splat on the wet leaves.

Sasuke settled lightly near the prone ninja. Sakura's black-haired teammate quickly approached the ninja's body which continued to twitch slightly. He stomped his sandaled foot into the disabled boy's stomach, causing his opponent to cough violently.

_Our teamwork has definitely improved,_ Sakura thought with pride. "That was your new jutsu?" she asked Sasuke.

"Might have burned a scroll with a Fire technique," Sasuke muttered. The Uchiha heir studied their surroundings and Sakura noticed that he had activated his Sharingan. Sasuke squatted and turned the Rain genin on his side. He began tying the taller ninja's hands with a rope from one of his pouches.

Sakura also looked around but did not see or feel the presence of any more enemies. "I'm going to check for Naruto."

"Watch for this one's partners!" Sasuke barked.

"I know!" Sakura replied sharply. _We should prepare as well as possible for another attack,_ thought and gave control to Lina again.

The sorceress repeated the Freeze Arrow chant. Holding the spell ready, Lina cautiously approached the tree behind which their missing teammate had vanished. She could feel sweat collecting on the handle of the kunai in her left hand. Slipping around the tree and being very careful to watch the branches above, Lina found Naruto tied and gagged on the ground. _**I don't sense anything,**_ Lina said and she let the Water spell dissipate and her right hand ceased to glow.

Sakura studied the bound blond for a moment but she also detected no traps or genjutsu. She moved to him and quickly cut the ropes binding his hands and removed the gag from his mouth.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said happily.

"Idiot," was Sakura's only reply as she cut through the ropes pinning his arms to his sides. "Untie the rest," she said and stood, scanning the dark woods again.

Naruto promptly had himself completely freed.

Sakura grabbed the pieces of rope that she thought might be usable and stuffed them into her belt pouch. "Come on," she said to her teammate.

"But-"

Ignoring whatever protest he wanted to make, Sakura grabbed his arm and pulled him back to Sasuke and his captive. Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the tied up Rain shinobi.

"He didn't have a scroll," Sasuke stated.

"If the rest of his team were around they surely would have attacked by now," Sakura said.

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "He underestimated us." The black-eyed genin turned an angry look on their blond teammate. "Or two of us, anyway. What are you playing at, Naruto?" the Uchiha boy demanded.

"He took me by surprise," Naruto whined, causing Sasuke and Sakura to sigh.

_**We need to improve his awareness after we finish this exam,**_ Lina mentally noted.

"We have to be ready at all times during this test," Sasuke said. Naruto grimaced and looked away, folding his arms across his chest. "Let's put some distance between us and this place in case someone heard the fight."

"What about him?" Sakura asked, pointing her kunai and the bound ninja.

"Leave him."

"We can't leave yet," Naruto said.

"Why not?" Sasuke asked in annoyance.

Naruto smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "That guy caught me before I could take a leak."

oOo

Shikamaru looked at his blonde teammate. It was not that she was acting oddly. She was far too chaotic for him to predict how she would react in an even slightly unusual situation and the chuunin exam was something completely new for Team Ten. But somehow, she seemed inappropriately chipper considering that they were in a dangerous situation for possibly the next five days.

Ino was in the lead of their team as they leapt through the trees. She had the best all-around abilities and would handle initial contact with any enemy they encountered. Shikamaru was following her, ready to use his family's Kagemane no Jutsu to immobilize their opponents after Ino distracted them. And Chouji brought up the rear; the hefty boy needed a little distance to build up momentum for many of his techniques to reach their full effectiveness.

Ino's cheerfulness was not what was causing Shikamaru to be annoyed.

"Ino," Shikamaru finally said.

"What?" the blonde replied, stopping on the next branch in her path and turning to look at Shikamaru. The black-haired boy landed next to her. Chouji landed also, causing the limb to sway from his weight. The genin of Team Ten ignored the movement of the branch, all of them easily keeping their traction on the wood.

"You were humming," Shikamaru said.

Ino blinked at Shikamaru. "I was?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru did not bother to explain that making unnecessary sounds while in hostile territory was a bad idea. Ino was smart enough to know that and he hated superfluous speech.

"Sorry," his fair-haired teammate said but she looked confused. She took off again, lightly bounding from one position to the next. Shikamaru and Chouji followed.

The lazy Nara sighed as he heard Ino begin humming again. Then she began to sing.

"Little girl with little breasts, scares the dragon from its nest."

Ino had a pleasant-sounding voice when she was not screeching. In any other situation, he might have admitted – to himself – that it was even relaxing.

"Throws it in a boiling pot, cooks it in the water hot."

The blonde was not singing all that loudly. Given the unnatural way that sounds seemed to be dampened in the forest, it probably would not cause them any problems.

"Takes a bite out of the meat, says it is a tasty treat."

But what kind of troublesome song was that anyway?

oOo

Deeper into the forest, the trees grew even larger. Their roots were so large that all three genin of Team Seven together would not have been able to encircle them with their arms. The roots of each tree covered a large area, dipping in and out of the soil and tangling with the roots of their neighboring trees. There was less undergrowth here but even more moss attached to the trees and creeping vines wrapping around trunks and hanging from branches.

Kakashi's students moved swiftly for several minutes before Sasuke stopped in an area absent of any roots. The black-haired genin crouched down and motioned for Naruto and Sakura to join him.

When the three were tightly huddled together, Sasuke spoke. "We need a password in case we get separated again."

Sakura nodded and felt Lina's approval of the idea.

"Listen carefully because I will only say this once," Sasuke stated. "When one of us asks for the song 'Nin Machine' the other will answer 'When enemies are numerous and loud, a shinobi knows to be invisible and silent. The time to strike is when the enemy is tired and unaware.'"

Sakura committed the password to memory.

"That's impossible to remember," Naruto complained. He scratched the top of his head in confusion.

"It's not impossible; I've already memorized it," Sakura told her blond teammate.

_**I know Naruto has a better memory than Gourry did,**_ Lina internally commented, _**but does Sasuke think that's really going to work?**_

Sakura studied the frowning blond beside her. _You have a point, _she agreed.

"Do we have to use that password?" Naruto asked.

Sakura opened her mouth to respond when Naruto suddenly flinched from something striking his cheek.

Sakura had not felt any wind since entering the Forest of Death but now a breeze began to wash over her. It rapidly intensified and became a gale carrying small twigs and bits of leaf.

"More enemies?!" Sasuke shouted as lifted his arm to protect his face from the flying debris.

The wind speed increased further and Sakura screamed in alarm, wondering how long the Wind jutsu – for it was obviously an attack by another team – would last. She felt herself begin to slip on the wet leaves and concentrated her chakra in the bottom of her feet to hold herself steady.

As soon as the pressure let up slightly, Sakura jumped to the side of the clearing. She hid under a root that had thin, green streamers of moss dangling from it like a curtain.

The wind died and the forest returned to its previous stillness.

Lina once again was directing their body's movements. As she lay on her stomach, the sorceress turned her right hand palm upward and chanted quietly. "You who crosses between sky and earth." Her hand began to glow with a blue light. "Gently flowing water."

Lina slowly crawled out of the hiding place, watching warily and holding her right hand carefully away from her body. When she stood, the sorceress hid her hand behind her back. Anyone coming at her from behind would easily see the spell but if an enemy came at her head-on they would be in for a surprise.

Sasuke entered Lina's vision a moment later. "The song 'Nin Machine,'" he ordered as he held a kunai with the blade turned toward her.

Lina repeated the password and Sasuke nodded. "Where's Naruto?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the blond-haired genin burst from behind a tree.

"Naruto! The password!" Sasuke commanded.

"I know, I know," the other boy said. "'When enemies are numerous and loud, a shinobi knows to be invisible and silent-'"

Naruto's recitation was cut short by Sasuke throwing a kunai at the smaller boy. The blond dodged quickly out of the way.

_What's Sasuke-kun doing?_ Sakura asked in surprise.

_**He thinks it's another disguised ninja,**_ Lina instantly realized. She brought her right hand around and pointed her palm at the shinobi transformed to look like their teammate. "**Freeze Arrow!**" As was becoming a habit, Lina immediately returned command of the body to Sakura after she cast the spell. Twin blue-white arrows flew from her hand.

The counterfeit leered and exploded in a massive quantity of smoke. The freezing darts of magic disappeared into the white cloud.

"So. Neither tired nor unaware," a new voice said from behind them. The two genin of Team Seven spun around. "Are you, Sasuke-kun? Sakura-chan?" The speaker was a black-haired female ninja from the Hidden Grass. She removed the wide straw hat she was wearing and tossed it aside casually.

_How does she know our names?_ the pink-haired genin wondered. Sakura and Sasuke both pulled kunai from their sheaths and held them ready.

The Kusa kunoichi seemed to be in no hurry, however. She lifted her left hand, displaying an Earth scroll. "You want this, do you not? After all, you have a Heaven scroll."

_How can she possibly know that?!_ A bead of sweat ran down the side of Sakura's face. An enemy knowing more about you than you did about them was never a good situation.

_**Someone must have told her,**_ Lina said.

_Cheating? Involving one of the proctors?_ The idea that the exam was compromised in such a way was even more frightening. _A traitor,_ Sakura thought fearfully.

The Grass ninja stuck out an extremely long tongue, wrapped it around the Earth scroll she held, and pulled the scroll into her mouth using her left hand to guide it. She swallowed the scroll whole. Sasuke and Sakura were left gaping at the action. "Now, we can begin our life and death struggle." The woman shifted her left hand to her face and pulled at the skin below her eye, exposing more of her eyeball.

An immense surge of killing intent flooded into Sakura's mind. Brutal images of her death flickered through her thoughts. So real was the vision that she could literally feel a kunai implanted within her skull.

Sasuke dropped to all fours and vomited.

Lina silently cursed, finding herself at the forefront of Sakura's mind. This scenario was exactly the sort of situation she had feared. Given how strong the emotions were that the woman was able to project, she had to be much stronger than Zabuza. She did not know why a ninja of this level would pose as a genin but the reason was moot for the time being.

_**Sakura!**_ she called intensely in her mind.

_W-wh-wha… _

_**This is bad.**_

Her other half was not currently capable of rational thought and Lina simply did not have the speed necessary to fight someone like the opponent in front of them. The sorceress held herself still, hoping to fool the Grass ninja.

_**Maybe if I can get her to talking.**_ Lina had defeated many strong enemies with simple delaying tactics. The more in control the enemy thought they were, the more likely they would show an opening. The other option was to antagonize the opponent into irrational actions but someone capable of producing a killing intent this strong was likely to be too professional for such a tactic to work.

Sasuke managed to move from his kneeling position. He obviously tried to stand but he fell backward on his rump. "Sakura," the black-eyed boy groaned.

The Grass kunoichi laughed darkly. "Such a little thing and you can no longer move," she taunted.

Lina looked into the woman's eyes and considered how the superior ninja had yet to make another attack. _**We're being toyed with.**_ A small sense of relief followed the realization. The real danger was not any less, perhaps, but the situation was certainly preferable to being attacked by someone who simply wanted you dead.

The black-haired woman was suddenly returning Lina's stare. "Or can you?" she asked and the sorceress knew her time for contemplation was up.

"**Flare Arrow!**" Lina cried, casting the one spell she could currently use to any degree of effectiveness without a chant. She swept her right hand in front of her and five crimson arrows burst into existence. The flare arrows sped outward in a tight arc. Two would miss her target but the other three were on course.

The enemy kunoichi made a set of hand seals faster than Lina had ever seen before and then spat out a deluge of mud. The stream of mud hit the ground in front of her and then appeared to splash upward, quickly forming a roughly square wall about two meters high.

Lina did not wait to see the results of her spell. Flare arrows had very little explosive force and were unlikely to do much against a wall made of Earth. Instead, the sorceress was up and running as fast as Sakura's ninja-trained legs could move without chakra. Sasuke was at her side and apparently still shaken from the experience because he was not moving any faster than she was.

Sasuke and Lina dodged around a couple of trees, Sasuke nearly tripping at times on the numerous roots. Lina stopped and rested her back against a tree, panting lightly. Sasuke took a few more steps before turning toward her. He was at her side in an instant.

"We have to run," he hissed in a low voice.

"She's faster than us," Lina whispered with complete conviction. "And we have to find Naruto."

_I think I'm recovering,_ Sakura said internally.

_**Good,**_ the sorceress responded. The problem was that their opponent could still disable the kunoichi at any time.

_I am not a liability! _Sakura thought with a little anger but also a little doubt.

_**I didn't mean it that way, **_Lina said hastily. _**We'll have to be careful though. Short amounts of time with you in control to move us. Most of the battle will have to be done with me in charge.**_

"We need to get away," Sasuke insisted.

"We can't," Lina stated. The sorceress studied the black-haired boy and noticed that he had been stabbed in the right leg just above the knee. He was also showing more emotion than she had ever seen. He was very clearly frightened. "Injured yourself for focus?" she asked. It was a dangerous thing to do. A small amount of pain could make the mind sharper in battle situations with adrenaline running high but too much could easily be debilitating.

"How… how can you…"

Lina shook her head, understanding what he was asking but not knowing what to tell him at the moment.

"I can tell you're out there," the woman's voice called out. Somehow, the dampening of sound that seemed to affect everything else did not hinder her voice from traveling.

Sasuke shivered slightly but moved next to Lina and leaned against the tree also.

_**Fireball or Freeze Bullet?**_ she asked herself. Fireball was a damaging spell but if their attacker was as fast as Lina feared she could probably dodge much of the explosion. Freeze Bullet would not be any easier to hit her with but if she was at all in the affected area it could slow her significantly.

_You tried to freeze her earlier,_ Sakura reminded her.

"You didn't run very far." Their attacker's voice sounded disappointed.

_**That's it, keep talking.**_ Lina smirked. "You who crosses between sky and earth," she whispered. A blue light emitted from her hand. "Gently flowing water." The glow rose from her hand and hovered above her palm in a misshapen glob. "Let thy power gather in my hand." Lina finished the chant and the glob reshaped itself into a perfect sphere, small motes of blue light drifted out from the surface of the spell.

"Don't you know that prey should always run from a predator?"

Lina stepped away from the tree and spotted the woman still standing in the clearing. The kunoichi had a small smile on her face and her arms hung loosely at her sides. The sorceress brought her hand up and shouted: "**Freeze Bullet!**" The spell zipped from her hand, leaving a thick frost on the dead leaves and tangled roots that it flew over. If the enemy ninja dodged it by a small amount, Lina could 'break' the spell with a mental command and cause its icy detonation when the spell was next to her target.

Instead of dodging, the Kusa ninja's hands blurred and she blew from her mouth a stream of fire which rolled outward forming a large ball of crackling flame that Lina identified as Goukakyuu no Jutsu.

The Fire jutsu was much larger than Lina's Water spell but when the two techniques met, they both seemed to come to a stop. The blue light given off by the freeze bullet pulsed erratically and the ice on the ground below it grew. Bits of fire flowed around the spherical spell and fell around the icy area making small scorch marks.

_**Damn!**_ Lina prompted Sakura and the pink-haired kunoichi leapt upward. She clung to the side of a tree for an instant before gathering more chakra and jumping as quickly as she could to the branch of another tree nearby.

The Grass kunoichi stopped breathing fire and the flames slowly died. The ice spell gave a final flash of bright blue and winked out of existence. The meeting of magic and chakra had left an odd pattern on the ground: a small area where jagged crystals of ice had grown surrounded by scorch marks. The earth in front of the woman was blackened and torn from the force of her jutsu.

"What a curious child," the woman commented lazily, "just as he said." The woman's eyes drifted to Lina's position in the tree.

The sorceress was quickly running out of options. She could try a black magic spell but kuro majutsu took longer to cast than seirei majutsu and required more spiritual energy. So far she had wasted three spells against the powerful ninja. _**But what can I do?**_ She asked herself in frustration. _**Insult her fighting stance? Her bad breath? I just don't have a handle on these ninja yet.**_

_Why not just fight her?_ muttered Sakura.

It did not appeal to Lina but she had no other ideas in the present circumstances. "Source of all power," she spoke.

Sasuke then showed himself, racing from the other side of the tree that they had rested behind. Lina noticed that his eyes had once again changed to black commas rotating within a red iris. His hands flashed through various seals. "**Katon: Karyuu Endan!**" he shouted as he came to a stop. The Uchiha genin spat out a stream of fire. Unlike the Goukakyuu Lina had seen before this flame continued forward in a concentrated streak. The sound of roaring fire filled her ears, this jutsu far louder than the other Fire techniques she had witnessed.

"Flame which burns beyond crimson." A red orb of Fire began forming in Lina's hand.

The flames of Sasuke's attack reached the still-smiling woman and she instantly disappeared in a puff of smoke. The log that she had replaced herself with exploded into flaming fragments of burning wood.

"Let thy power gather in my hand." Lina looked around, trying to spot where the Kusa ninja had gone.

Sasuke also scanned the surroundings, panting from the effort of his jutsu. Suddenly he made a series of hand seals: Snake, Dog, Ox, Boar, and Ram. A barrage of several dozen shuriken thudded into and around Sasuke's body. Smoke erupted from his form, leaving behind a piece of wood riddled with shuriken.

"To catch my attack in time to use Kawarimi… what wonderful eyes."

"**Fireball!**" Lina threw the spell upward and to her left – toward the source of the shuriken and the voice. It was close to her own location and she shifted to Sakura who crouched on the branch, applied chakra to her feet, and braced for the explosion. Her emerald eyes caught a brief glance of the Grass kunoichi before her position exploded in a ball of flame. Smoldering bits of wood flew away from the spot. The force of the blast hit Sakura, causing her clothes to snap and her long hair to fly backward, but she remained unmoving on the limb.

A long, thick branch fell from the damaged tree, the broken end burning. The monstrous tree itself was also aflame around the gaping hole that had been blown into it. Over half the trunk was missing and Sakura heard the wood groaning torturously.

_I hope that doesn't fall toward one of us,_ Sakura thought.

The kunoichi of the Hidden Grass reappeared on another limb of the mangled tree. Her new elevation was closer to Sakura's and she stared across the gab between them. "You really should have stopped interfering," the woman said coldly. She pushed up her left sleeve, bit her thumb, and dragged the bleeding digit through the tattoo that had been revealed on her arm. "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu,**" she said and wind swirled around her. White smoke mixed with the wind as it rapidly enlarged. The branch the woman stood on was ripped apart by the gale but somehow she stayed in place as the cloud expanded below her to touch the floor of the forest. The spinning smoke began to disperse, revealing a massive, dark green snake. Its yellow eyes were nearly as large as Sakura was. "Eat her," the Kusa ninja ordered.

"Sakura!" the pink-haired girl heard Sasuke cry.

Sakura also heard Naruto's voice, coming from somewhere above her: "Sakura-chan!"

The snake looked at Sakura; her heart raced and she discovered that she was once again too frightened to move. She mentally retreated and Lina glared into the vertically slit eyes of the gigantic snake. The sorceress prepared to cast a desperate Flare Arrow.

The snake flicked out its tongue, tasting the air. It opened its mouth…

And Lina noticed that its forked tongue had not flicked in-and-out, it was actually hanging limply out of its mouth. The snake closed its mouth – tongue still hanging out – and the scales of its face changed color to a bright shade of green. It turned away from Lina, lowered itself to the ground, and began slithering into the woods.

_What just happened?_ Sakura asked in shock.

Lina, on the other hand, was feeling a completely different set of emotions. _**You have to be kidding me! Now I'm spooking snakes?!**_ Now matter how convenient it was at the moment, the snake's reaction infuriated her.

The Kusa kunoichi leapt from the head of the retreating snake and landed back in the partially frozen and burnt clearing. She stared after the summoned serpent in consternation.

Naruto touched down beside Lina, looking at her curiously. "Sakura-chan, did you use some sort of genjutsu on that huge snake?"

"Drop it, Naruto," Lina warned the blond.

Naruto waved his hands in front of himself as he shook his head in confusion at her angry tone. Lina noticed that the boy had scratches all over his body and that his orange clothes were torn in a number of places.

The woman below them turned her attention back to Lina.

The sorceress felt a chill run up her spine from the gaze. _**Time for some black magic,**_ she decided.

_You're going to summon a demon?_ Sakura asked in fear.

_**Not a demon, just its power.**_

"You're going to pay for trying to hurt Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted down at the woman.

"This one is in a different league, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled.

"Keep your distance from her," Lina said.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'm using my chakra right this time," Naruto said in a voice more calm than usual. The blond set his fingers in the cross seal he often used.

"That's not…" Lina's voice died as she felt a surge of power from Naruto. He was clearly drawing on the power of the Mazoku sealed within him but it felt different than it had on the bridge in Wave Country. Naruto's face looked normal; it was not taking the feral cast that it had that previous time.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

Lina whistled in admiration. There were over a hundred Naruto clones now in the trees. Some were standing on limbs, others hanging by their chakra-laden feet from all sorts of angles.

The Kusa kunoichi looked amused. "My, my, Naruto-kun. So much chakra for a genin," she said mockingly.

_She doesn't seem surprised,_ Sakura noted. _Does she know about the Kyuubi?_

Naruto and his clones jumped toward the woman, battle cries on their lips.

"I can't cast any black magic at her if you get too close!" Lina yelled, finishing her earlier explanation.

The giant snake reappeared, moving quickly for such a large beast. The snake crushed tree roots as it slithered over them. The head of the snake struck upwards, catching dozens of Naruto's bunshin in its mouth. It bit down and they exploded into smoke. The woman blurred into a leap, avoiding the other copies of the blond genin. She landed on top of the snake's head and blew a Goukakyuu toward the remaining clones.

Lina felt a shift in the power emitting from Naruto. Now she could feel the hate and desire for destruction of the Mazoku. A single Naruto, presumably the original, burst through the enemy ninja's fireball and flew through the air toward the woman. His eyes were red and the whisker-like marks on his face were much darker than normal.

The Grass ninja's tongue shot out and wrapped around Naruto's arms. The blond genin was pulled in close to the woman and she said something to him softly. Naruto struggled in her grip but had no leverage and could not bring his hands together to form a seal.

_What do we do?_ Sakura thought in dismay.

Lina ground her teeth in frustration.

Still holding Naruto in the air with her tongue, the kunoichi made some hand seals and slammed a glowing hand into his stomach. The Mazoku's aura vanished and Naruto immediately passed out from the woman's jutsu. She casually tossed him away. The fall from the height of the snake's head would have been bad enough but Lina saw that his path would cause him to fall directly on the sharp spikes of ice that pointed upward from the still-frozen area of ground.

"Naruto!" she screamed. Chakra gathered in the girl's feet and she launched herself from the branch to intercept the blond's fall. She caught him mid-air and twisted; her momentum was slowed but was still enough to take them across the clearing and her feet thumped into the trunk of a tree. With her arms wrapped around her teammate she dropped to a safe side of the clearing and grunted from the impact. Naruto was heavier than his height made her think he would be.

Sakura laid the blond boy on the ground and checked him for injuries. He was breathing and his heart beat steadily. The young kunoichi rolled up his shirt but found no trace of whatever jutsu the woman had used aside from five small bruises around his navel.

Silent as a ghost, the older kunoichi alighted on the forest floor near Sakura. Her hands blurred through seals and then she thrust them into the ground. The earth cracked outward from her hands in a line that split in two and surrounded the pink-haired girl and the blond-haired boy. The ground rose from the circling line in jagged chunks that curved and met just above Sakura's head.

Sakura was not afraid of the dark but the small enclosure felt uncomfortable with absolutely no light. The smell of the molding leaves was stronger inside the confined space and her nose twitched as if she might sneeze.

_**Now we have a chance to surprise her,**_ Lina thought with a grin. The sorceress scooted to a side of the dirt trapping them and began reciting a spell. "Spirits which dwell within the earth. Provide me with passage." She stretched her hands out and placed them flat against the inside of the dome. "**Bephis Bring.**" A round area of the earth enclosing them glowed faintly red. The light vanished along with the dirt that had been glowing, leaving a perfectly circular hole.

Lina jumped through the hole and scanned the area. The giant snake was missing. The enemy kunoichi and Sasuke were high in the trees, Sasuke attacking with kunai and shuriken and the woman dodging sinuously.

"Thou who sleeps in the depths of the earth," the sorceress slowly chanted, closing her eyes for better concentration. Black magic differed from shamanistic. It did not call on nearby nature spirits for assistance.

"Thou who has a soul of ice." Instead each black spell called upon the power of a specific being. Lina's magic reached out to make a connection with one of the Greater Mazoku, this particular spell searching for Dynast Grawshellar.

"Thy dark blessing shall defeat my enemies." The Mazoku's energy was what actually powered a black magic spell. The sorcerer's spiritual energy was only used to create a link between the Mazoku and the human and to contain the effects, because a Mazoku's power would run rampant if allowed to do so.

Lina heard the crackle of flames from above. She snapped her eyes open and looked upward, seeing a line of fire running along a wire from Sasuke to their attacker. Sasuke was using Fire and she had just finished chanting an ice spell but there was no danger of the two canceling each other. Her spell was far more powerful than the jutsu the Uchiha boy was using. "**Dynast Breath!**" she shouted, thrusting her palms toward the Kusa ninja.

And nothing happened.

oOo

Gaara motioned with his hand toward the pathetic wretches hiding in the bushes. They had watched as he crushed the Rain shinobi and apparently were too terrified to do more than sit there and shiver.

Mother was not awake – she usually only spoke to him when he was fighting someone truly strong – but he himself was left with an unsatisfied feeling from the battle he had just fought.

"That's enough, Gaara." Kankurou moved toward him and grabbed his shirt. "You should listen to your big brother," the puppeteer said.

"I have never once thought of either of you as my siblings." It was ridiculous to think so. Had they ever acted like siblings? Had Mother ever spoken of them as such? They were members of his team; that was all. "If you get in my way, I'll kill you." Gaara swatted Kankurou's hand away.

"Don't be so cold," Temari said. "Please listen to your sister. We can stop now."

His sand swirled around the three genin in the undergrowth and his hand twitched. Then he thought he heard someone whisper a name in his mind and his heart skipped a beat.

Mother came roaring from her sleep. _**A sorcerer!**_she screamed furiously.

Gaara's gaze was drawn to the south. Whatever this sorcerer was, he would find it and crush it. Mother would feast on its blood and they would grow stronger.

_**No, not blood, not yet,**_ Mother said in a more calm, calculating tone. _**I will show you new ways to become stronger.**_

He withdrew his sand from around the cowards and plugged his gourd. He turned south and began walking. If this sorcerer could make him stronger and allow him to prove his existence even more then he would go to it without delay.

"Gaara!" Temari called after him.

Mother chuckled darkly.

oOo

Spread all around the Elemental Nations, a number of individuals stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look toward the Village Hidden in the Leaves. None of them understood but each of them felt a tug deep inside.

The Bijuu that were able to communicate with their hosts did so. Threatening, cajoling, or bribing, each of the Tailed Beasts in its own manner attempted to convince its host to follow the call of black magic.

oOo

The Kyuubi also felt the attempted black magic and anger surged through his being for a moment. He subsided quickly but his priorities had been altered.

In a human's mind the seal would have appeared differently but to the Kyuubi it was like a cloth wrapped around him, the threads composed of the power of two humans and one god. Two holes in the seal normally allowed his power to leak out and into his host's body.

The Kyuubi noted a second seal wrapped around the first. The new seal closed the gaps in the older seal but it was far weaker, made only from human chakra. The Kyuubi pushed his power through the outlets and shattered the second seal.

oOo

Kabuto looked away from the Rain ninja that was pinned to a tree by his kunai. The girl's kuro majutsu had certainly failed but he was unconcerned, regardless of whom she was currently fighting. He chuckled and returned his attention back to his captive. Something like a black wind swirled around his hand. The genin began screaming again when Kabuto laid his hand on the other boy's chest.

The grey-haired boy's senses caught the approached of one of his captive's teammates and he grinned. It had taken long enough for him to be found.

oOo

_Well, you certainly surprised me,_ Sakura commented sarcastically.

_**Dynast is gone?!**_ Lina thought in shock as she stared at her hands.

_One of the demons you know about is dead?_

_**Not dead, that's- **_

_Look out!_ Sakura internally shouted. She took control and jumped sideways as a large snake – nearly as wide as she was tall – struck at her from the shadowed side of the closest tree. The green-eyed genin pulled out a trio of shuriken and threw them into the snake's gaping maw, aiming the throwing stars to pierce into its brain. It appeared to work because the snake jerked and fell limp.

The serpent's skin split open and the Kusa kunoichi's body rose out of the dead snake.

Sakura flicked her eyes upward and saw that the kunoichi was still up in the trees facing Sasuke. _Some sort of snake bunshin?_ she wondered.

The Grass ninja – or her clone – leered at Sakura.

Then the pink-haired girl felt the power of Naruto's demon return with a vengeance. The woman standing in front of her disappeared in an orange streak as Naruto lunged from the dome of earth and tackled the foreign kunoichi. The woman landed on her back roughly and ruptured into smoke from the impact. Naruto stood; his red eyes passing over Sakura made her shiver. The blond clutched at his stomach, groaned, and fell to his knees. He slowly toppled face first onto the leaf-covered ground.

Sakura moved to help her downed teammate. "Who the hell are you?!" Sasuke's voice shouted in frustration and anger, bringing her attention back to the fight above her.

_We have to do something!_

_**Alright, if I can't freeze her then I'll just blow her away!**_ Lina thought determinedly. "Thou who is darker than the twilight." Lina began one of her most powerful spells.

_This is the spell you started to cast on the bridge, isn't it?_

"Thou who is more red than flowing blood." This time the sorceress focused carefully on what her spell was doing. She held her hands out in front of her as if holding a large ball.

_Weren't you worried about how big the explosion would be that time?_

"Thou who is buried in the flow of time." Lina's magic reached out to connect with Ruby Eye Shabranigdo. A red glow began to form in between her hands, the shell of magic that would hold Ruby Eye's power.

Lina saw the kunoichi's neck stretch to a ridiculous length and her head strike at Sasuke like a snake.

"By thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness." The connection with Shabranigdo should have been established now and her request for power accepted. The glow between her hands enlarged to a sphere filling her hands.

_Wait, __**what **__did you just say?!_

"All those fools who stand before us." And now the Mazoku Lord's power should have been flowing back to her… but it was not. "Shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess," Lina continued doggedly, aiming the spell at the snake woman. "**Dragon Slave!**" Finally, the red sphere in her hands imploded because there was nothing pushing outward against its force. _**What in L-sama's name is going on?**_ Lina asked in a bewildered tone.

Sakura heard Sasuke cry out in pain and saw him double over. Her head swung between her two collapsed teammates before she jumped to the trunk of the tree. Two more leaps took her to Sasuke's side. Their attacker appeared to be gone. "Sasuke-kun!" she said urgently. The Uchiha boy could only moan in response. Sakura laid a hand on his shoulder tenderly and she could feel him trembling. _What do we do now?!_

_**I'm not sure,**_ Lina said, sounding indecisive for the first time.

_What's wrong with you?_ Sakura had grown accustomed to her other self always having a plan of action.

_**My magic isn't working!**_ Lina replied. _**Black magic is the stronger half of my set of spells!**_

_You're still more powerful than I am._ Sakura tried to keep the bitterness from her mental voice.

Lina was quiet for a few more moments. _**You're right. I'll figure this out later.**_ Despite Lina's assured tone, Sakura could tell that her confidence had been greatly shaken. The kunoichi allowed Lina to take control and the sorceress gently rolled Sasuke onto his back. His face was set in a grimace and his eyes were closed tightly. He was sweating heavily. Lina noted the lump that was their Heaven scroll under his shirt.

_Is he poisoned?_ Sakura asked fearfully.

Lina grunted. _**It could be an infection. I can't risk casting Recovery on him,**_ the sorceress said reluctantly.

_Why not?!_ demanded the pink-haired genin.

_**Recovery increases the vitality of the whole body but that includes any bacteria within the body,**_ Lina explained. _**White magic just isn't my specialty. Black is,**_ she finished sourly. Lina picked up the boy and noticed a mark on his neck. It looked vaguely like three Sharingan _tomoe_ but the 'heads' were much larger in proportion to the 'tails.'

_What is that?_

_**Your guess is as good as mine.**_ Lina looked down into the clearing. The area was a mess. The ice from her Freeze Bullet was still there surrounded by a charred area. The branch that she had blown off lay nearby; it and many of the surrounding roots had been crushed by the summoned snake. And a little further away was the hemisphere of earth that they had been trapped inside.

"Wind which blows across eternity. Grant me thy freedom. **Levitation!**" The sorceress dropped from the limb and floated down to where Naruto was. Laying Sasuke down, she moved to check on Naruto's condition. He was sitting with his back against a tree and looked to be awake but his eyes were scrunched up and he still had one hand on his stomach. His blue eyes opened as she approached. "Are you okay, Naruto?"

"It hurts a lot," the blond said in a tight voice.

_It must be something that woman did to him,_ Sakura said thoughtfully.

Lina knelt and lifted Naruto's shirt up. He protested a little but made no move to stop her. A pattern was visible on his stomach. A spiral centered on his navel with four columns of dense, unreadable text above and below the spiral. The whole design was glowing a bright red.

_It looks like a seal,_ Sakura murmured.

_**The Kyuubi seal or something the snake lady put on him?**_ Lina wondered. Surely no one would do anything to a Mazoku's seal if they knew what it was. "We need to get moving, staying in one place is dangerous."

Naruto nodded. "I think I can walk," he said. He climbed to his feet and tottered forward a few steps. He started to fall but Lina caught him quickly. She led him to Sasuke and helped him sit down next to their teammate.

_Now what?_ Sakura asked. _I don't see how I can carry them both._

Lina sighed. _**I guess we have only one option,**_ she internally said. She picked up Sasuke, holding him from behind with her arms under his armpits. "Get ready, Naruto."

"Huh?" said the blond genin.

"Wind which blows across eternity." The air around Team Seven began to stir. "Gather around me and let me soar." The wind spun faster, circling them. Lina and Naruto were lifted slightly off the ground. Naruto squawked in surprise. Lina held firmly onto Sasuke and pulled him into the air also. "**Raywing!**" The wind died suddenly and a shimmering blue globe appeared. Lina floated in the center of the sphere while Naruto sat on the inner side of the spell's air shield. It was far more draining to have someone resting on the spell itself; she had usually only carried Gourry when traveling this way. Amelia and Zelgadiss had been able to cast the Raywing spell for themselves. Setting the memories aside, Lina mentally pushed the spell and it began to carry them swiftly through the air. Out of habit, Lina also caused the magic to rotate her body so that she was more parallel to the ground.

"Woah!" shouted Naruto. His surprise changed to a grin of delight as he watched the scenery zip past.

In the dense forest, Lina had to concentrate to dodge around the tree trunks and tangled limbs. The Raywing spell did not carry them any faster through this type of terrain than a well-trained ninja could have navigated the distance but it was far superior to the three of them trying to stumble through the woods.

After a quarter hour of flying, they came to a stream several meters wide. The banks of the water were made of grey rocks. The trees surrounding the brook were smaller than elsewhere in the forest and the open sky could be easily seen. Being able to see the bright sunlight for the first time since entering the forest made Lina feel better. She directed the flight spell downward and landed short of where the rocks began. Around the trees at the edge of this area was green, growing grass rather than moss and dead leaves.

The sorceress blew out a breath in relief as she ended the spell. She gently lowered Sasuke to the ground. Naruto was still seated but seemed more vigorous; he was looking around the area in interest. Wiping some sweat from her forehead, Lina also studied her surroundings a bit more. The water was a somewhat wider at this point compared to the rest of the stream that she could see. It was also fairly shallow; she could easily see the bottom of the stream bed which was made of rocks like the shores. The water was flowing gently to the northwest, based on the sun's position and her memory of the map.

_**I need a break,**_ Lina said and left Sakura in command.

The first thing the kunoichi did was check on her black-haired teammate's condition. Sasuke was still feverish and apparently in pain given his expression. Sakura dug some cloth bandages from her medical kit and went to the brook to wet them down. She returned to Sasuke and placed the cool, dripping cloths on his head.

Naruto was watching in concern. "Is he okay?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know," she answered. "How about you?"

Naruto's hand returned to his stomach. "It doesn't hurt any more but I feel kinda tired."

_**Naruto, the stamina freak, feels tired?**_ Lina thought in amazement.

"Well, now's a chance for you to get some rest," Sakura said.

Naruto nodded his head and lay down on the grass, stretching out with a smile on his face and placing his hands behind his head.

Sakura heard light snores coming from him almost instantly. She sat down on the soft grass and sighed in contentment.

_**I wonder how long it'll be before we're attacked again.**_

By Sakura's estimate, it had been less than two hours since the second exam had begun and they had already been attacked twice. _Do you really think we will be?_

_**I think we should expect it,**_ Lina said. _**And although the failed black magic spells didn't take as much out of us as they would have had they worked, I've still used up quite a bit of our spiritual energy.**_

Sakura allowed herself a few more minutes of rest, not thinking about anything in particular. Even in this more open part of the forest she could not hear any of the natural sounds that should have been present. Even the nearby water was flowing slowly enough that there was no splashing or gurgling as it went by the surrounding rocks.

Standing up, the green-eyed genin looked around the area they were in again. _We can set up some traps, maybe some genjutsu._ She started walking into the forest, away from Sasuke and Naruto, looking for vines to use as rope and anything else that caught her interest.

_**Too late,**_ Lina griped.

_What?_ Sakura asked but then she immediately caught the presence of someone watching her. The pink-haired girl sighed. "You might as well come out," she said loudly.

Three ninja jumped out of the trees and in front of Sakura. They were the team of Hidden Sound genin that had attacked Kabuto before the first exam. Camouflaged pants and scarves were part of their team's or village's normal outfits she decided. The one with the mass of hair on his back stood in the center with his legs spread wide apart. The sulky-looking boy whose hair stuck nearly straight up was on his left. And to his right stood the girl with long, dark hair.

Inside Sakura's mind Lina rubbed her hands together in glee and cackled. Standing there were three honest-to-goodness idiots. Sakura had not known their location but they had instantly given up their advantage of surprise. _**Hairball, Broomhead, and Cammy,**_ Lina internally labeled them. She was becoming better at reading ninja and could tell that the three Oto shinobi standing there were not much – if any – stronger than Sakura.

Broomhead was the first to speak. "Aw, it's too bad you spotted us." He was holding a squirrel by the scruff of its neck. "We were going to have a little fun." The boy waved the squirrel back and forth. He dropped the animal and it scurried away; Sakura saw that it had an explosive tag pasted on its back. "Though we're lucky we found you so quickly."

"Wake up Sasuke-kun," Hairball said. "He's the one we want to fight."

_More people who know our names?_ Sakura thought in exasperation. "Sorry," she replied, "but you'll have to get past me first." The pink-haired kunoichi drew a kunai with her left hand.

Cammy laughed lightly. "A little girl trying to be a sexy kunoichi isn't going to stop us."

Sakura was annoyed by the comment but refrained from responding when Lina said, _**Allow me. She's given me the wedge I was looking for.**_ Lina put her right hand on her hip and looked at the Sound kunoichi with disdain. "I don't want to hear that coming from someone trying to dress like 'one of the guys,'" Lina taunted.

"Excuse me?" the other girl said in disbelief.

"Kin," Hairball said warningly.

Lina saw Broomhead's hand twitch in anticipation of attacking. _**Okay, so Hairball has the most self control,**_ she thought. _**I'll pull the girl into my pace some more.**_ Lina snorted loudly. "You heard me. You might as well cut your hair and make the disguise complete."

"You little-"

"Kin!" the one in the center said again, this time more sharply.

"Forget it," Broomhead said angrily. "We'll just kill her and then kill this Uchiha in his sleep."

_No, you won't!_ Lina and Sakura thought together. She leveled her right hand at the trio. "**Dill Brand!**" she shouted.

A circle of red light appeared on the ground around the three Oto ninja. The earth beneath them fractured and more red light spilled out from the cracks that formed. Less than a second since the spell began, the chunks of earth erupted upwards. The Sound trio jumped away but the female team member was a little slower and got caught in the blast.

_**Did you cast that spell?**_ Lina asked in confusion.

_I thought you did, _Sakura replied._ How could I have?_

Cammy crashed into the ground on her side, her jump and the explosion had carried her a meter away. Her clothing was torn, especially her camouflaged pants, and she was bleeding from a number of large gashes on her legs as well as a few smaller ones on her right arm.

Bits of dirt continued to fall down around the small crater that the Earth spell had created.

_They'll try to retaliate._ Sakura dropped her kunai, catching it by the ring with her pinky. She sped her hands through several seals and used the substitution technique to move herself into a nearby tree on her left side. The pink-haired kunoichi spun her kunai back into her hand.

Hairball was at the log that Sakura's Kawarimi made to look like her an instant later. He swung at the log with an obvious hook, much as he had done at Kabuto. The genjutsu on the log vanished as he landed a heavy blow where her head would have been.

_**I can only cast a few more spells, each of them has to count,**_ Lina said to herself. "Source of all power," she whispered.

Apparently the Sound ninja had very good hearing because Hairball was instantly pointing in her direction. "There!" he shouted.

"**Fuuton: Kuudan!**" Lina heard Naruto yell to her right. He and Sasuke were hidden from her line of vision by a pair of trees growing close together but she saw a swirling ball of air speed toward Hairball.

_Good timing, Naruto!_ Sakura internally cheered.

"Flame which burns beyond crimson," the sorceress continued, no longer bothering to whisper. A ball of red energy formed in her right hand.

Hairball jumped toward Lina. Broomhead landed between where Hairball had been and Naruto's Wind technique, his arms raised. "**Zankuuha!**" A blast of air left his hands and the two jutsu collided, merged, and exploded. A swift breeze whipped outward from the impact point and Broomhead stumbled.

Lina smiled and dropped off the limb she was sitting on. She was not very high off the ground and between her experience and Sakura's trained body, the fall would not cause any problems. Hairball had already reached the limb she had been on but a few more seconds was all she need. "Let thy power gather in my hand!" she yelled as she fell. The fireball pulsed and sizzled with power as sparks in the air swirled inward.

Lina looked upward, targeting Hairball. The Sound ninja cursed and jumped higher into the tree. She let her legs bend and absorb most of the impact as she landed. Flinging the spell at Broomhead instead, she cried: "**Fireball!**"

The lanky Sound ninja's attention had been directed toward Naruto's – and Sasuke's – location but he turned his head toward her instantly. His eyes widened on seeing the crimson sphere rocketing toward him. He brought his arms around. "**Zankuukyokuha!**" he called out.

"No, you idiot!" Hairball yelled from above.

Sakura took control and dived for the ground. Wind jutsu and Fire spell met and caused a massive explosion. The force caused Sakura's body to roll over twice and she lost her grip on the kunai in her hand. Small bits of fire were landing all around her and she felt a pair land on her back and burn through her top. She rolled onto her back to smother the flame.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out worriedly as he bounded into the area where the explosion occurred.

Sakura stood and waved to the blond. "I'm okay, Naruto." She walked to him, carefully avoiding any of the smoldering areas of grass. Broomhead was crumpled at the base of a tree. The cracks and impression in the tree gave testimony to how hard the Oto ninja had been flung into it. Cammy was trying to sit up and had a senbon in her hand. Sakura glared at her and the other girl flopped onto her back with a sigh. Naruto tensed, looking behind Sakura, and she turned around to see Hairball studying them.

"Your move," the pink-haired kunoichi said.

"We weren't told to expect anything like this," the Sound ninja said in a musing tone.

"Told by whom?" Sakura asked.

Hairball shook his head. He reached into his jacket and pulled out an Earth scroll. "If you let me take my teammates away unhindered, I will give you our Earth scroll. I could escape on my own but this encountered has raised many questions in my mind."

_**Lucky!**_ Lina thought cheerfully. _**Of course he has no way of knowing how low on magic I am.**_

Sakura looked back at Naruto and he nodded. "Alright, we agree," she told the Sound shinobi.

Hairball laid the scroll on the ground and moved toward his companions. He picked up Broomhead and placed him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Cammy was struggling to get upright again and he helped her to stand. As the Sound trio moved away, Hairball offered a final parting comment. "If we meet again in this exam, we'll be prepared for you."

Sakura walked to the Earth scroll and picked it up. Rock Lee suddenly landed next to her, startling the pink-haired girl immensely. A squirrel was sitting on his shoulder. "It seems that your team has defeated some worthy enemies, Sakura-san!" he said brightly.

"Fuzzy Brows!" Naruto said in surprise.

"Lee! What are you doing here?" Sakura asked.

Lee reached up and petted the squirrel. "This little fellow had an explosive tag placed on him. I thought someone might be in danger."

"No way!" Naruto shouted and laughed boisterously. "We kicked their asses!"

Sakura sighed at the blond's exuberance. "Anyway, I need to check on…" Another figured approached the small group from behind Naruto. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried happily. Sakura skipped toward the Uchiha heir with a smile. "You're…" Her voice died as she felt the chakra radiating from her black-haired teammate. "That's…"

Swirling black marks covered his left arm and the left side of his face. His expression was not his typical impassive look or his occasional glower. His eyebrows were drawn fiercely downward and his red Sharingan eyes seemed to blaze with anger. But it was the power that Sakura was feeling that made her frightened.

_That's a Mazoku's power!_ Sakura thought frantically. It was as strong as anything she had felt coming from Naruto and was laced with the same desire for destruction. There was also a feel to it that Sakura could only describe as 'alien' and an additional emotion being carried through the air that the pink-haired girl had not sensed from Naruto: jealousy.

_**Not just any Mazoku, **_Lina whispered in shock. The sorceress was far more surprised than Sakura because she actually recognized the energy signature of the Mazoku. She found it hard to believe even with the power flowing from the boy standing in front of her. _**That's Xelloss' power! So the Trickster is still around for better or worse.**_ Lina's words held a sort of rueful disbelief.

"What's that black stuff?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

Lee glanced at Naruto before returning his attention to Sasuke. "Are you feeling well?" the green-clad genin questioned.

Sasuke raised his left hand to examine it. "I feel wonderful," he said. "Chakra is overflowing within my body."

_What's going on?!_ Sakura asked. _Is there a demon sealed inside Sasuke-kun now?_

_**I doubt that.**_ Lina did not think that the sealing of a Mazoku would be something that she could have missed. She also had trouble imagining Xelloss ever being captured in such a fashion. _**My best guess is that it's something like a black magic spell,**_ Lina mused. _**With the Mazoku's energy going straight into his body.**_ The sorceress did not like the idea of Naruto's seal mixing demonic and human chakra. The energy of a Mazoku simply did not belong in a human body. Now she realized that even when the blond genin's visage became feral there was still a very human quality to the power he released. Inside Sasuke that human portion was being drowned out by Xelloss' power. _**This can't be good.**_

Sasuke's red eyes trailed down to the Earth scroll in Sakura's hands. "So, I missed the end of another battle," he said with frustration. The markings on his body spread, covering his entire face and his right arm. The malice-filled aura around him increased. He snapped his gaze upward and stared directly into Sakura's emerald orbs. "Fight me," he demanded, leaving Sakura gaping at the black-haired boy.

"What the hell are you thinking?!" Naruto shouted.

Lee frowned at Sasuke, his own thick eyebrows slanting down. "Fighting with your teammate in this situation is not proper, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke looked toward the boy with the bowl-cut hair and he gave a nasty grin. "You're right," he said. "I'll fight you instead." Sasuke's form blurred and then he was standing next to Lee. A powerful backhand from Sasuke sent the other genin flying past Naruto and Sakura.

Lee hit the ground and rolled, coming to a stop in a crouching position. He had managed to stop before he rolled onto the rocks of the stream's shore. His hands were cupped together. He opened them and the squirrel that he protectively held darted for a tree. Sasuke blurred and Sakura lost track of him again. Lee jumped into the air. "**Konoha Senpuu!**" the boy in spandex shouted.

Initially it looked like a repeat of the first time the two boys had fought. Sakura saw Sasuke ducking under the first spinning kick. Then her black-haired teammate lunged forward before Lee could bring his other leg fully around and caught the next kick. Sasuke spun to his right, holding onto Lee's left leg, and threw Gai's student into a high arc toward the stream.

Lee twisted in mid-air, curling into a ball for a moment, and then extended his legs and brought both of his feet downward forcefully on the water's surface. A large circular wave of water splashed away from the impact and Sakura saw Lee airborne again, his backward leap carrying him to the opposite side of the stream. Sasuke charged after him, running across the brook and straight through the ring of still-flying water. Sasuke's feet left small ripples where he stepped.

"We've got to stop them!" Naruto exclaimed and chased after Sasuke and Lee.

"Uh," Sakura said, still stunned from the turn of events. "Yeah." The pink-haired girl quickly jammed the Earth scroll into her belt pouch.

The two members of Team Seven ran to the stream. The water disturbed by Lee had mostly settled but the remaining ripples still caused waves to noisily lap at the shore. Sakura and Naruto jumped to the other side. The forest looked much the same on this side of the stream but Sakura saw that there were a handful of larger boulders scattered among the trees.

Sasuke and Lee clashed again, now fighting on the grass beyond the stone shoreline. Lee was no longer using the huge circular motions that he seemed to prefer; he was attacking with more compact kicks and jabs. Sasuke dodged everything thrown at him, retaliating with lightning-quick strikes toward Lee's chest that the older genin blocked.

_**Is Sasuke playing with him?**_ Lina wondered.

_Or using the Sharingan to learn his style,_ Sakura suggested.

Lee suddenly switched back to usual style. "**Konoha Reppuu!**" he yelled and tried to sweep Sasuke off his feet. The red-eyed Uchiha jumped into a forward spin, over Lee's attack, and brought his heel down on the other boy's head. Lee was sent sprawling onto the ground.

"Is that it?" asked Sasuke as he sneered at the fallen boy.

Lee was back on his feet in an instant. Or one foot, rather, as his other smashed into Sasuke's jaw. The Uchiha boy was sent into the air and then Lee was springing upward to become his 'shadow.' The cloth unwrapping from around the arms of the taijutsu-using genin followed Lee's path.

"I've already seen this," Sasuke commented in an unconcerned manner. He whipped his arms backward, throwing a pair of shuriken which sliced through Lee's wrappings. The cut material drifted downward, leaving less than an arm's length of cloth trailing beyond Lee's hands. "I know where you jumped from, where you are behind me, and where those bandages are."

Lee clamped his arms around Sasuke. "**Omote Renge!**" he shouted and the two boys began to spin as they dropped headfirst toward the ground.

Sakura saw Sasuke's head snap backward and she heard a sickening crunch as Lee's nose was broken.

Just as the pair of genin were about to collide with the forest floor, they sprang away from each other. Lee landed in a shaky crouch. Blood flowed from his nose and he was wincing.

Sasuke's jump ended with him on his feet but looking slightly dizzy. Sakura's black-haired teammate shook his head.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called, hoping to get his attention during the short interruption of the fight. "Lee came to help us; we don't need to fight him."

Sasuke turned his attention to Sakura but he simply stared at her with narrowed eyes.

"Anyway, we have both scrolls now."

"You think I care about scrolls?" Sasuke asked acidly. "All that interests me is gaining more power, no matter what I must do."

Sakura had never even considered being afraid of Sasuke before. But seeing him like this and remembering the way that he had looked at her a couple of minutes earlier made a shiver of fear run through her.

Naruto growled low in his throat and placed his hands together, forming his often-used seal for Kage Bunshin.

"What are you doing, Naruto?!" Sakura asked anxiously, although she had a very good idea of what her blond teammate planned.

"Teaching that bastard a lesson," Naruto said. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" A dozen shadow clones formed around him. They ran forward with surprising quickness.

Sasuke watched the oncoming kage bunshin with a vicious smirk on his face. Naruto's clones spread out around the black-haired member of Team Seven before they charged from all directions. Sasuke continued to observe the clones until they were nearly in striking range. The Uchiha boy blurred into a spinning leap, sending a kick that disrupted the bunshin and sent Naruto himself flying to the side.

Lee was standing again, blood smeared across the lower part of his face and soaked into the small length of bandages wrapped around his right arm. His nose was crooked and swelling. "So that is the power of the Sharingan," he remarked.

Sasuke chuckled. "That's right. How did you like my Konoha Senpuu?" he asked mockingly.

"What is going on?!" someone screeched.

Sakura had a kunai in hand and nearly threw it before recognizing Ino's voice.

The blonde-haired girl stomped her way toward Sakura with the other two members of Team Ten trailing behind her, obviously reluctant.

"Why are Sasuke-kun and Naruto fighting?" Ino asked.

Sakura threw her hands into the air. "How am I supposed to explain this mess!"

"That bastard Sasuke tried to attack Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he got to his feet.

A look of complete disbelief crossed Ino's face. "Don't be stupid, Naruto!" the blonde yelled.

Lina sighed. "He's more or less right," she said. "Sasuke is… berserk at the moment."

Ino narrowed her eyes at the other girl.

_You didn't call him 'Sasuke-kun' so she knows that wasn't me talking,_ Sakura said.

Sasuke was standing next to Lina an instant later. Ino stumbled backward in surprise. "You make this sound like a bad thing," Sasuke said. He held up his hands, seeming to study the dark flame-like patterns. "This is a gift, just as he said."

The members of Team Ten shuddered from the close proximity to Sasuke and the power that was flowing from him.

_**Who is 'he?'**_ Lina wondered.

Sakura looked into the red eyes of her teammate. "Please, Sasuke-kun," she pleaded, "calm down."

Sasuke's face seemed to soften for a moment then it was all hard planes again. He leapt backward in a blur. "You think I don't know of the Nara clan techniques?" he asked as he came to a stop.

Shikamaru sighed and separated his hands from the Rat seal he had formed. "If he's that fast, catching him is going to be troublesome," the lazy genin muttered.

Sakura noticed a thin shadow near her feet. It retreated back toward Shikamaru, wavering and expanding until it matched the Nara boy's outline.

"You tried to use the Kagemane on Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked Shikamaru in an annoyed tone.

Shikamaru look at Ino with a serious expression. "Ino, does that look like Sasuke to you?"

Chouji shook his head immediately upon hearing Shikamaru's question.

The blonde girl looked back at the black-haired boy eying them angrily and audibly swallowed.

"Shadow imitation?" Lina asked.

Shikamaru grunted. "If I can catch him with my shadow, I can control his movements."

_**That sounds useful.**_

_You aren't planning to attack Sasuke-kun?_ Sakura thought in dismay.

_**I'm not going to hurt him,**_ Lina internally answered.

"I don't want to do this," Sakura mumbled.

_**Careful, you're thinking aloud again,**_ the sorceress told the kunoichi. "But I don't see that we have much choice," Lina said. "Have to do something about Xelloss' power first," she muttered. "Naruto!" she called out loudly. "Distract him! Lee, grab him when you get the chance! Shikamaru, same as Lee!" Lina ignored the glare that the Uchiha heir sent her direction.

Ino gaped and blinked at Lina. Shikamaru sighed but nodded. Chouji's expression became intent.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" Naruto shouted. Twenty copies of Naruto yelled as they dashed toward Sasuke.

"Kage Bunshin?" Ino said in confusion.

"Same thing every time, Naruto!" Sasuke said in disdain. He streaked to meet the clones and began quickly dispatching them, leaving small clouds of smoke in his wake.

"Light, gather within me and become a flash!" Lina shouted as she ran parallel to Sasuke's battle with the shadow clones, trying to keep him in sight.

Two of the Naruto duplicates had not moved to attack Sasuke directly. One of them picked up the other by his feet and swung him around in a circle before releasing him toward Sasuke. The clone that had done the throwing vanished into smoke.

"Purge the abysmal darkness!" Lina continued the chant. Her right hand began to glow with a white light.

Sasuke saw the projectile Naruto and tossed a kunai at him. The flying Naruto burst into a white cloud.

Lee darted out of one of the clouds of smoke surrounding Sasuke. The black-haired Uchiha threw another kunai which pierced Lee and the green-clad shinobi also exploded into the puffy remains of one of Naruto's kage bunshin.

Lina pointed her palm at Sasuke. "**Elmekia Lance!**" The shamanistic Spirit spell appeared as a bar of pure-white shooting from Lina's hand. The lance struck Sasuke in the left side of his chest. A ripple of white energy passed over Sasuke's body and the black markings on his skin disappeared in its wake. Sasuke stumbled.

Another Lee exited from a kage bunshin cloud and grabbed Sasuke's forearms from behind. The bodysuit-wearing genin pulled on Sasuke's arms and twisted them behind the other boy's back.

Sasuke struggled against Lee's arm lock. At first Lee was easily able to keep hold of the other genin but as the odd pattern spread from Sasuke's neck once more the effort became more intense. Sasuke growled and finally overpowered Lee; the boy with the bowl-cut hair staggered back as Sasuke snapped his arms outward.

"Kagemane no Jutsu successful," Shikamaru announced. The black-haired member of Team Ten held his hands up in the air and Sasuke was forced to copy him.

"Great!" Lina said. "Light of life, brighter than flame." The sorceress ran toward the captured Uchiha.

"If you hit him I'll feel it too," the Nara boy warned.

"Dampen the fires of thought and slow the rush of blood," Lina chanted, ignoring Shikamaru for the moment. She reached Sasuke and placed her hand on his forehead. "**Sleeping!**"

Sasuke's eyelids began to droop. The Mazoku's power diminished and the unnatural blemishes on his skin retreated. "You," he said through gritted teeth as he fought against the spell's effects.

"You wanted to fight me," Lina said quietly and sadly. "Well, now you've seen me at my best."

Sasuke's red Sharingan eyes returned to their normal black and closed. His skin cleared completely except for the original three _tomoe_ on his neck. His muscles relaxed and he began to fall to the ground but Sakura caught him quickly. A thin line of shadow drifted away from Sasuke's silhouette.

The pink-haired genin sighed. _He's just asleep, right?_ she questioned worriedly.

_**Yeah, and he will be for hours unless I counter the spell,**_ Lina answered.

As the remaining smoke cleared, Sakura saw that there were three copies of Lee still standing around the battle site. The broken and bloody noses looked even worse in triplicate. Two of them burst into smoke – one disappeared completely the other turned into Naruto.

Sakura's blond teammate walked over and helped her lay Sasuke gently on the grass-covered ground.

"That was amazing!" Chouji said. The large boy's lazy teammate sighed but Sakura caught his eyes studying Naruto and herself.

"Okay, Forehead Girl. I want some answers," Ino demanded as she marched up to Sakura.

Sakura caught a flicker of motion in the corner of her eye, so this time she actually saw the new arrivals before they spoke. The rest of Lee's team had taken up position on a branch halfway up one of the trees.

"Lee, are you okay?" Tenten asked.

Lee gave her a thumbs up and a bright smile marred by a drop of blood falling from his lip. "The fires of my youth burn more brightly than ever!"

Neji sighed in disgust. "Only you could say something like that with a broken nose."

Tenten jumped down to Lee and started to rummage around in one of her pouches, presumably for some medical supplies to help her teammate's nose.

"Jeez!" exclaimed Naruto. "Who's going to show up next?!" The blue-eyed genin was waving his hands around in frustration. "Probably some ANBU or that crazy examiner lady!"

Lina snickered mentally.

"Naruto, calm down," Ino said in exasperation. "There's no reason for you to get upset. I just want to know what happened to Sasuke-kun."

"Look, Ino-pig," Sakura snapped. "We've been through four fights in about two hours. I'm at the point of starting a tirade myself." The green-eyed kunoichi noticed Neji staring across the small stream.

Dreading what she would find, Sakura turned around and looked toward the direction that Team Seven had originally come from.

Contrary to Naruto's prediction it was not a team of ANBU or even Anko. Instead it was the Sand team that they had encountered before they had even been notified of the chuunin exams. Sabaku no Gaara led them from the forest. The redheaded boy's face was as expressionless as ever but his pale green eyes glittered as they focused on Sakura. "She is the one," he said as he stepped from grass onto the rocky shore opposite of the gathered Leaf genin.

The sensation of yet another Mazoku – the third she had felt today – washed over the pink-haired girl as the Suna shinobi approached.

"Mother wants her… alive."

End of Chapter 5

oOo

**Replies:**

Sakura-and-anyone-but-Sauske re. "Do you have a couple planed for this, or is sakura gonna be alone?" – I don't have any pairings planned. Sakura has her crush and Naruto has his. Sasuke is… Sasuke. And Lina misses Gourry. That doesn't mean that Lina won't be causing Sakura some problems…

kazster re. "Also if Zelgodis is still arround." – Sorry, but I don't see any way for Zel to make an appearance.

FrogsNeverDrink re. "um is Ino the reincarnation of Naga?" – No, but she entered Sakura's mind while Lina was maintaining a spell. Lina's mind is a bit jumbled anyway and Ino has been affected by the experience.

Funkitated re. "Aww, Hinata/Amelia would have been a riot." – I know! I was sooo tempted. But the story won't allow me to pull characters in randomly.

Oberon re. "Isn't it about time large chunks of realestate disappear in an mystical fire of nuclear proportions? It's been far too long since Lina last let loose with a Dragon Slave." – I couldn't agree more.

And finally a big "Sore wa himitsu desu." to Evil Midnight Lurker.

**Notes:**

There are a lot of things that I would like to say about this chapter. I believe I can sum it all up in three syllables: **Kukuku.**

Regarding elemental superiority: I'm going to ignore the chart and go with whatever makes sense in a given situation. Examples: Chidori, as a piercing attack, will go through an Earth defense whether spell or jutsu; a lightning bolt attack will not do the same. Water will conduct lightning unless I have a reason to believe that the jutsu/spell is using pure water (which a number of spells do). Fire and ice will cancel if they are equal in strength. That should give you a general idea of how I'm doing things.

I was reading and discovered that 'blonde' (as opposed to 'blond') is supposed to be used only for females. Live and learn. Comes from French; that explains everything.

I don't know if there are any more official words to the Dragon Spooker rhyme aside from the first line, so I made up a couple more verses.

Kawarimi hand seals – in the manga Kawarimi ends with 'Boar' and 'Ram' but the only lists I found showed the seals as Ram, Boar, Ox, Dog, Serpent… so I reversed them. **Update:** Kaishin informed me that the anime seals are Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog, Snake. I did change 'Serpent' to 'Snake' (it's more specific, especially since there is a 'Dragon' seal also) but left the reversed order as-is.

(Anko is **not** Xelloss; I just couldn't resist.)

_himitsu_ – secret  
_Kuro Majutsu_ – Black Magic

_Raiton: Shokkingu Haji_ – Lightning Release: Shocking Grasp – an electric charge is built in one hand and released on contact, more for stunning an opponent than doing damage – courtesy of S'TarKan, author of "Team 8"  
_Kagemane no Jutsu_ – Shadow Imitation Technique  
_Katon: Karyuu Endan_ – Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile  
_Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu_ – Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique  
_Zankuuha_ – Decapitating Air Wave  
_Zankuukyokuha_ – Extreme Decapitating Air Wave  
_Konoha Senpuu_ – Leaf Whirlwind  
_Omote Renge_ – Initial Lotus

Jutsu used by Orochimaru:

_Doton: Doryuuheki_ – Earth Release: Earth Style Wall  
_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu_ – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique  
_Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ – Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique  
_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_ – Summoning Technique  
_Doton Kekkai: Dorou_ – Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison – jutsu causes earth to erupt around targets and form an enclosed dome – name derived from Jirobo's Doton Kekkai: Doroudoumu  
_Gogyou Fuuin_ – Five Elements Seal

_Freeze Bullet_ – shamanistic water spell, launches a freezing globe of water at target, stronger than Freeze Arrow – **my chant,** derived from Demona Crystal & Fireball: You who crosses between sky and earth / Gently flowing water / Let thy power gather in my hand / Freeze Bullet!  
_Bephis Bring_ – shamanistic earth spell, digs a tunnel through dirt or stone – **my chant**, derived from Dill Brand: Spirits which dwell within the earth / Provide me with passage / Bephis Bring!  
_Dynast Breath_ – black magic spell, draws power from Greater Mazoku Dynast Grawshellar to freeze a large area  
_Dragon Slave_ – black magic spell, draws power from Mazoku Lord Ruby Eye Shabranigdo to annihilate a very large area  
_Raywing_ – shamanistic air spell, high-speed flight spell, also creates a 'bubble' of air around the caster – **my chant**, derived from Bram Gush: Wind which blows across eternity / Gather around me and let me soar / Raywing!  
_Elmekia Lance_ – shamanistic spirit spell, standard spirit-based attack spell  
_Sleeping_ – white magic spell, causes target to fall asleep – **my chant,** derived from Lighting: Light of life, brighter than flame / Dampen the fires of thought and slow the rush of blood / Sleeping!

**Omake:** What if the Kyuubi were Zelas-Metallium…

"Oh, beautiful Kyuubi-sama."

"Stop it! She can't hear you!"

"How do I love thee?"

"Just leave me alone!"

"Let me count the ways…"

"Shut up! I mean it!"

"I love thy sharp claws and wicked fangs…"

"I'm warning you…"

"I love thy silky and bushy tails…"

"Xelloss, if you don't quit following me around and talking to my stomach, I'm going to stab this kunai right where the sun don't shine! Believe it!"

"Naruto-kun, you tried that technique on me yesterday."

"Grr…"

(Apologies to Elizabeth Barret Browning; inspiration credit goes to Funkitated.)

**Omake:**

The Grass ninja's tongue shot out and wrapped around Naruto's arms. The blond genin was pulled in close by the woman and she said something to him softly.

"Tho, the thox blat ith thtill alive… thtupid tongue."

**Omake:**

"**Dynast Breath!**"

A loud buzzing sound was heard and then a voice spoke. "Your call cannot be completed as dialed, please hang up and try again. If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator."

"Damn area codes!"

**Omake:**

"Now allow me to explain my abilities so that you can create an effective counter," Hairball said.

"Can I take notes?" Sakura asked.

"**Fireball!**" Lina said.


	8. Chapter 6: Rebirth of the Dragon Slave!

"Naruto" is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. "Slayers" is the creation of Kanzaka Hajime.

Warning: This story has spoilers for certain content of Slayers, NEXT, and TRY. **(Spoilers for NEXT and TRY in this chapter.)**

Note: It took me a month and a half to write instead of a week and a half like I wanted but here it is! I hope you enjoy it.

Updates: 1) bob (an anonymous reviewer) pointed out something and I realized that I forgot to mention that Lina's parents were retired in this chapter – Chapter 3 mentioned it previously, 2) some grammar fixes

**A Different Voice**

Chapter 6: Shock! Rebirth of the Dragon Slave!

Posted: 8/31/2007

Updated: 8/31/2007, 9/1/2007

Lina Inverse was not born into a special family. Her parents were an average sorceress and an average swordsman – retired from their days of questing – in a land full of adventurers. Lina did not receive any sort of special education. Her parents gave her some instruction but her family did not have any special techniques or magical items passed down through the generations. And Lina had never been considered a prodigy, especially compared to her sister.

Luna Inverse – only three years older than Lina – seemed to have been born under an auspicious star. Luna prospered at everything she put her hand to. She considered magic too easy so she took up sword fighting instead. By the time she was ten, her skill with a sword surpassed their father's. Luna quickly gained a reputation and fighters from far and wide came to challenger her. They all lost and she continued to improve.

Lina envied her sister. The younger Inverse showed some talent for magic but nothing to compare to her sister's genius. Between Luna's sword and the handful of spells she did use – mostly support spells such as Astral Vine – she was able to defeat fighters, sorcerers, and demons alike.

Then when Luna was twelve, she became the Knight of Ceipheed. When Lina's older sister was chosen by the god of their world to house one of his remaining fragments, sibling rivalry changed into something completely different. Luna no longer needed mundane human magic. A normal sword in her hands became something much greater. And if she had ever bothered to find one of the legendary blades such as the Sword of Light then even the Greater Mazoku would have feared her.

Lina decided to become the opposite of her sister. Rather than a swordswoman blessed by the gods, she would develop into a sorceress steeped in black magic. And so Lina did what she did best. She read and studied and learned everything about Mazoku that she could. There were a fairly large number of sorcerers that could cast the Dragon Slave but few took the time to study the details intimately. So when Lina found a fragment of an ancient text that seemed to hint at a Mazoku even more powerful than the Mazoku Lord Shabranigdo, she had knowledge that most sorcerers lacked and she was able to create a new spell to call upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares. And she called it the Giga Slave.

Many people saw Lina Inverse as an irresistible destructive force. The truth is that Lina won her battles through a combination of knowledge, luck, and determination.

Without her in-depth studies of black magic she would never have known about the Lord of Nightmares and would have been killed by Shabranigdo.

Without her luck she would never have met Gourry Gabriev, the owner of the Sword of Light, or her other companions.

Without her determination to always win she would never have been able to face down Shabranigdo or Dark Star or any of the other Mazoku that had attempted to destroy the world.

Lina never set out to save the world. Luna was far better qualified for such heroic deeds but to add insult to injury Lina's older sister spent most of her time working as a waitress. So Lina was the Inverse sister who was dragged into world-threatening situations again and again. She complained and fought against her destiny every time but at some point her determination always took over and she walked straight into confrontations to make the stoutest hearts quail.

And Lina won each time.

Haruno Sakura was not born into a special family. Her parents were average ninja in the largest of the hidden villages. Sakura did not receive any sort of special education. She started attending the ninja academy at the age of six along with so many other children. Her parents gave her some instruction but her family did not have any special techniques or a Bloodline Limit passed down through the generations. And Sakura had never been considered an exceptional kunoichi, especially compared to her best friend.

Yamanaka Ino was everything that Sakura wanted to be: strong, confident, and smart. Ino was able to make friends easily and she excelled in the academy – in both the kunoichi-specific classes and the general ones. Coming from one of the more prominent clans in Konoha, Ino had better stamina and chakra than most of the female ninja-to-be. Ino's father was a well-known jounin and spent as much time as he could helping Ino train.

Ignoring the most obvious reasons, being from a clan made far more difference in the ninja academy than it should have. Intentionally or not most teachers paid more attention to students from a clan. Some of the instructors tried to curry favor that way, especially with the children that would some day be leaders of their clans. Other instructors had better – if perhaps still flawed – motives. After all, the young clan members had a background proven to produce effective ninja and given their family training they tended to learn better and faster. The teachers at the academy knew that most of the students would fail to become genin so they gave special care to those most likely to succeed.

Ino was Sakura's first friend at the academy and it hurt when they began fighting over Sasuke. Sakura did not think that she would ever catch up to Ino's physical skills so she selected an alternate path. She read and studied and learned everything about being a kunoichi that she could. Her written test grades had been higher than anyone else's in the class, she had a theoretical understanding beyond chuunin levels, and she developed a degree of chakra control unheard of in an academy student.

Like Lina, Sakura had a vast store of knowledge.

Also like Lina, Sakura had a large amount of luck. Of the nine students that graduated from the academy that year Naruto and Sakura were the only two not from one of Konoha's clans. Naruto was a special case and his scores balanced Sasuke's. Sakura's assignment to Team Seven was not luck of the draw – real luck is more subtle than that. Team Seven was designed as a traditional battle team with taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu specialists and Sakura's test scores tagged as the latter; and Kakashi thought that a team with two one-sided relationships would be perfect for the bell test.

And Sakura was determined. But Sakura's resolve was not to win against any enemy, it was to catch Sasuke's interest.

Sakura had never been determined to become strong. She thought that it was out of her reach. Women did not naturally have less chakra than men – thanks to her lineage Hyuuga Hinata had far more chakra than most of the boys that had graduated – but they did tend to have less stamina which was needed to manipulated chakra. Even a legendary kunoichi such as Tsunade was better known for medical techniques than for ability in battle.

The biggest difference between Sakura's and Lina's attitudes came from the difference between chakra and magic. Chakra required physical abilities that Sakura would always be second-rate in compared to Sasuke and Naruto. Lina had never had that problem. Because magic was a purely mental discipline.

oOo

"Mother wants her… alive," Gaara said as he walked toward the stream – and toward Sakura.

Sakura had no clue who the boy's mother was, of course, but some demon-possessing ninja stating that he wanted her alive was not appealing in the slightest.

_**I couldn't agree more,**_ Lina commented dryly.

The red-haired boy stopped before reaching the flowing water. He made a quick hand seal. The ground beneath Sakura's feet shivered. The land between Gaara and the stream exploded. Grey rocks that had lined the bank flew into the air. A wave of sand poured out of the earth and created a bridge spanning the brook. The Sand shinobi began calming walking across the bridge formed of sand. "The rest of you will die," he said. His bland face contrasted with the threat present in his voice.

Naruto stiffened as the human and demonic killing intent radiated from Gaara.

The members of Team Ten shuddered but Gai's students did not seem to be affected.

_At least this situation isn't as bad as that snake woman, _Sakura thought._ Even with the Mazoku, he's not putting out as much killing intent. And there are nine… well, eight of us._ The pink-haired girl glanced down at Sasuke's sleeping form. _Can you wake him up?_

_**I only have enough magic for one more spell,**_ the sorceress answered. _**We have to choose very carefully. **_Lina paused briefly. _**And we don't know how Sasuke will react either, **_she added hesitantly.

Sakura sighed in frustration.

"Gaara!" the other male Sand ninja called out. He and the kunoichi of the Suna team had not moved past the last tree on that side of the stream. "Don't-" The girl beside him slapped her hand over his mouth and whispered something to him. Sakura noted that the kunoichi looked upset.

Neji jumped from the tree he had been standing in and touched down lightly between the shore and his teammates. Inadvertently or not, this placed him much closer to Gaara than any of the other Leaf genin. Lee was frowning at the redheaded Sand ninja. His face had been cleaned of most of the blood that had leaked from his broken nose. Tenten dropped some medical supplies to the ground and drew two handfuls of shuriken. "Such threats will not frighten Konoha ninja," Neji said haughtily, crossing his arms over his chest.

Gaara continued his slow crossing.

Sakura noticed Shikamaru shift his stance. He had a sour expression on his face. "Maybe running away would be a better choice," he muttered.

Naruto frowned at the lazy genin.

Ino looked torn between berating Shikamaru for his suggestion and agreeing with him. Her blue eyes darted between the unconscious Sasuke and the approaching Suna ninja.

"I'm all for it if our team can really get away," Sakura said. She had seen the speed both Naruto and Sasuke displayed when Mazoku energy was flowing through their bodies. Gaara's leisurely pace did not make her think he would be any slower. Fighting him now with the other Leaf ninja was better than facing him later as Team Seven alone.

Naruto turned toward the pink-haired kunoichi with a disappointed expression on his face. "We can't run!" he protested.

Rocks shifted and crunched against each other beneath Gaara's feet as he stepped off the bridge. His teammates still had not moved forward, apparently content to watch from behind as the short redhead faced eight other genin.

_Those two are acting really strange,_ Sakura internally observed. The two Suna ninja did seem a little nervous yet they were not moving to support their teammate.

_**That's bothering me also,**_ Lina responded.

The bridge arching over the stream collapsed. The sparkling water turned into a muddy mess as the sand slapped into it.

"I'm nearly out of… spiritual energy," Sakura said quietly to her blond teammate.

Shikamaru overheard her comment and raised an eyebrow.

Sakura's tongue had slipped to some extent. She knew that Shikamaru would be curious about her phrasing because there were very few genin that could run out of spiritual energy before they ran out of stamina. But saying 'spiritual energy' was far better than saying 'magic' as she almost had. _I should have said 'chakra' instead_, she berated herself.

_**Our secrets aren't the most pressing issue at the moment,**_ Lina chided her.

Sakura noticed Lee looking in her direction. She glanced at him quizzically but his eyes moved away as he looked at Naruto, Sasuke, and Team Ten. He nodded to himself and bent down. He fiddled for several seconds with something underneath the leg warmers that he wore and then removed some weights that had been strapped around his legs. Sakura could have sworn that the ground dimpled underneath the weights as he set them down.

"Leave this one to me," Neji said, momentarily turning his attention toward Team Seven and Team Ten. Naruto growled in response.

Gaara stared at Neji. The two genin stood a little over a meter apart. Neji's feet were on grass but where Gaara stood was mostly small stones. They both appeared calm despite the murderous aura coming from the shorter ninja. Neji had quite a bit more height than the redhead but Gaara's presence drew the eyes of the gathered Leaf ninja.

"You are strong," the Suna shinobi said. "Your eyes hold hatred similar to mine. Has your family tried to kill you also? Do you want to kill them?" Gaara's eyes widened as he continued, causing the skin above his nose to wrinkle. His mouth formed a twisted smile. "Do you want to see their blood flowing like a river?" The kanji for 'Love' tattooed above his left eye seemed to stand out further the more his expression changed.

_**Oh, joy. Not only does he have a Mazoku sealed in him but he's psychotic as well, **_Lina sarcastically thought.

"This isn't good," Shikamaru said.

"There's an understatement," Sakura muttered.

The Sand shinobi's words surprisingly did have an effect on the Hyuuga genin. He flinched – ever so slightly – and his arms dropped to his sides. Neji scowled faintly and brought his hands back up and slid his right leg backward, taking a loose stance. The palm of his left hand was stretched toward Gaara and his right hand hung loosely at his side. Veins around his pale eyes bulged.

_Extra blood vessels around the eyes? Another doujutsu like the Sharingan?_ Sakura wondered. It was very strange if so because the normal arteries and veins of the eye were behind the eyeball not between the skull and skin of the face.

"Your chakra… what are you?" Neji said in a puzzled tone.

Gaara's hands came together in a Tiger seal and more sand exploded from the ground around him. Sakura had to duck to avoid one of the rocks that had been dislodged from the stream's bank by the eruption.

The sand spread forward like a wave around the redhead. Neji's hand intercepted the first spike of sand and it dropped to the forest floor, unmoving, as the chakra that animated it was either eliminated or nullified. Sand closed in on Neji from several directions but the Hyuuga boy danced gracefully between the attacks. As he dodged, he struck out with the flats of his hands and again sand fell lifelessly.

_**Can you tell how he is affecting the Sand boy's technique?**_ Lina asked.

_No,_ Sakura replied. _Is that the Hyuuga style?_ she asked herself. She had seen Hinata spar during the academy but family techniques were never used there; just as she had never seen Sasuke perform a Katon jutsu until they were together on a team. They had been graded strictly on academy style and jutsu. The rules were in place to provide a level playing field. It also hid the clan techniques from the rest of the students.

"How is he doing that?" Ino said, voicing Sakura's and Lina's question aloud.

Shikamaru sighed. "The Hyuuga Gentle Fist works by expelling chakra from the palms," the Nara boy explained. "The Juuken is normally used to damage an opponent's organs and chakra coils but it obviously has uses against chakra manifestations as well." Sakura raised an eyebrow at hearing the description. Ino also stared at her teammate in surprise. Shikamaru grumbled under his breath at seeing their reactions.

_**Sounds a little bit like Amelia's Vis Farank spell,**_ Lina murmured mentally. _**Except chakra damages the body instead of the spirit.**_

Gaara stood still, arms at his side and hands curved like claws, grinning madly as he watching Neji battle with the sand. The dark-haired Hyuuga thrust a palm into the sand between them and dashed through the gap created. Neji quickly reached the Suna genin and attacked him directly for the first time. Sand instantly poured from the gourd on Gaara's back and intercepted Neji's strike. This time the sand did not fall to the ground. It stayed in mid-air between Gaara's chest and Neji's hand. Additional sand came from the gourd and reached toward Neji. The Konoha shinobi was put back on the defensive, barely able to defend himself from the swift sand.

"Looks like another arrogant ass needs help," Naruto said with a grin. Naruto formed the hand seal he used most often.

"Wait!" Sakura said sharply, catching Naruto's attention. "Those three surely know how to work together."

Tenten jumped into the air and released her shuriken. The six projectiles flashed toward the Suna ninja. Part of the stream of sand that was attacking Neji diverted to block the throwing stars. Gaara glared at the bun-haired kunoichi as she landed back on the ground.

"If we charge in without a plan we'll just get in their way," Shikamaru added.

Naruto huffed and folded his arms across his chest.

Gaara's sand finally caught Neji's left hand. The redhead smiled more widely as the sand snaked up the Hyuuga's arm. Then Lee disappeared from his current position and the next Sakura knew he was delivering an axe kick through the sand near Neji's arm. The forceful blow scattered grains of sand and Neji slipped free from the sand's grasp. The two boys leapt away from Gaara. The redhead's smile turned to a frown at Neji's escape.

"You're moving slow," Neji complained to his teammate, even though Lee had just displayed a speed faster than any other genin that Sakura had seen.

"Sorry, I used the Lotus earlier," the green-clad shinobi replied. Lee winced slightly. "It will be a while before I fully recover."

"His defense can't be perfect."

_**I agree with Neji about that,**_ Lina internally said, _**but the question is: how do we find his weakness?**_

"Let's see how long he can keep it up," Tenten said. The kunoichi pulled a scroll off her belt. She opened the scroll and twirled it into the air around her like a ribbon. She released the end of the scroll she held but it somehow remained in the air, spinning about her body. Tenten's hands blurred and she touched the scroll in various places. Each time her palm struck the paper a weapon appeared in a puff of smoke and the black-haired girl flung the summoned weapon at Gaara. Flails, shuriken, scythes, kunai… Tenten threw all manner of weapons at the Suna shinobi and each one embedded in his wall of sand.

Lee and Neji – apparently ignoring any possibility of a badly aimed throw by their teammate – charged back toward Gaara and attacked him from two other angles. Neji stepped onto the stream, somehow maintaining his footing atop the water – Sakura made a mental note to find out how later – and attacked from behind the red-haired genin from Wind Country.

Lee's punches and kicks were able to penetrate the sand that defended Gaara but not with enough strength to strike the redhead. He darted in and out of range as he struck and then dodged the sand that tried to catch him. Neji had even less success as his slower speed forced him to be more defensive and his Gentle Fist style did not have the power of Lee's blows.

As the attacks on Gaara continued his sand formed a more complete barrier around him, looking more and more like a thick tan egg shell. From what Sakura could see the boy's expression was becoming more frustrated, a fierce scowl replacing his earlier vicious smirk.

_It's a question of who will run out of stamina or chakra first,_ Sakura decided. _But if that guy is anything like Naruto…_ Her green eyes flickered to her blond teammate for a moment.

Tenten was the first to stop attacking, having run out of weapons from her scroll. The bun-haired kunoichi backed off slightly as she worked at rolling up her large weapon scroll and continued observing the fight.

"He's not moving at all," Shikamaru said. "No hand seals. My Kagemane won't stop him from using his sand." The young Nara looked at Sakura. "Can you put him to sleep?"

"If I can get close enough," Lina answered in Sakura's place. She watched the continued efforts of Gai's students to get through Gaara's shield of sand. "But I have to actually touch him."

"Since he's staying in one place, what if I use the Shintenshin?" Ino asked.

"No!" Shikamaru and Sakura both said loudly.

"You don't know how the chakra in that sand would affect your jutsu," Ino's black-haired teammate said.

Sakura was more concerned about what exactly would happen if Ino did manage to enter the mind of a demon host. But telling the Leaf ninja present about the Mazoku could lead to awkward questions about Sasuke and Naruto.

"And with the water at his back Chouji can't easily use the Nikudan Sensha." Shikamaru sighed. "We should retreat and find a better area for this fight."

The pink-haired kunoichi looked at Naruto. The blond had a mulish look on his face. "Getting everyone to retreat in a coordinated way isn't going to be easy," Sakura said. "We could end up in a worse situation."

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of annoyance again in response.

"Enough!" shouted Gaara. His demonic presence increased, causing Sakura's throat to involuntarily tighten. The sand that had laid unmoving since Neji's first attack began to stir again. The grains moved slowly at first but quickly built up speed.

"Lee! Get out of there!" Tenten yelled.

The taijutsu specialist back flipped just in time to avoid a whip of sand that tried to wrap around him from behind. Lee breathed heavily and sweat ran down his face.

Neji jumped over Gaara and landed next to Lee. "This is getting us nowhere," the tall Hyuuga boy said, his tone betraying little of the frustration that Sakura thought he must be feeling.

The sand gathered around the red-haired Suna ninja and mixed with the sand from his gourd, clumps of it hanging in the air as if dangling from invisible strings. "Give me the sorceress!" he demanded, his voice sounding lower pitched and rougher than previously. Sakura saw his teammates scramble backwards into the woods.

'_**Sorceress?' **_Lina questioned._** That's odd; we haven't used any magic since he arrived.**_

_Another mystery, _Sakura thought in irritation, _just what we need._

Whatever the other genin standing around thought of Gaara's speech, Naruto reacted almost instantly. "Not going to happen! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" A dozen shadow clones popped into being.

Sakura grabbed the real Naruto's sleeve before she lost track of him. "Stay here," she told him as the clones charged toward Gaara. "You need to carry Sasuke if we run." Naruto frowned as he turned his attention to their prone teammate but nodded in acceptance.

The blond's group of bunshin attacked with kicks and punches that did little to the sand surrounding Gaara. The shadow clones were swiftly reduced in number as tendrils of sand wrapped around and squeezed them.

"**Freeze Arrow!**"

Sakura's head whipped around to gawk at Ino. The blonde girl stood with her left side facing Gaara and her arms positioned as though she were drawing back on a bow. Faint blue light glinted along the outline of the nonexistent bow in her left hand and the string held taunt in her right. An arctic blue arrow appeared and Ino released the imaginary bowstring. The bow disappeared instantly as the icy arrow flew forward.

The spell intercepted a line of sand snaking toward the last Naruto clone. A length of sand was immediately encased in ice and it fell to the rocky shore, the ice cracking slightly on impact. The clone jumped backward, landing near Sakura and the real Naruto.

_What just happened?_ the pink-haired kunoichi thought in surprise.

_**That's a less powerful version of the spell,**_ Lina mused. _**I haven't used it in years.**_

_But how?!_ Sakura's question earned her a mental shrug.

Ino stared at her hands in confusion.

Gaara's hands slipped into a Tiger seal again and Sakura felt his power begin to rise once more. The feeling of Mazoku chakra continued to increase as the sand gathered even more closely around the redhead. Rather than the egg-shaped shield that the sand had formed before it became a perfect sphere around the Suna shinobi.

_**Whatever he's about to do is going to be bad,**_ Lina voiced her opinion.

_Everyone is in danger because of us,_ Sakura thought, her distress over the situation increasing.

_**I know.**_

"Now's our best chance to leave," Shikamaru said. He glanced toward Sakura to see her response.

_**We need to stop what he's doing right now,**_ Lina said. _**His power is increasing.**_

_I know! But exactly how do you propose we stop him?_ the pink-haired genin tartly questioned.

_**That's the part I haven't figured out yet, **_Lina answered with a grin.

Sakura ground her teeth in annoyance. The sorceress had a strange way of fighting. Even against the snake woman earlier she had never really thought about whether she could win or not, she had only thought about how. The only time she had faltered was when her final spell had failed.

_**There's nothing strange about it,**_ Lina refuted. _**Finding the how is the real battle.**_

The young Haruno felt her lips quirk upward into a small smile. The thought was liberating even if it did seem foolish. For a moment Sakura forgot her worries about demons and the possibility of dying during the 'exam' that they were taking. For a moment she fully focused her thoughts on simply defeating the opponent in front of her. But before she could devise and evaluate any plans something else occurred: the minds of Sakura and Lina merged.

It only lasted a matter of seconds but in that brief time a hundred thoughts flew through their combined intellect: what was happening to her, the Mazoku energy in Naruto and Sasuke, the presence of Xelloss, the failure of Lina's black magic, how to defeat Gaara. The world around her seemed to freeze as the questions that had been plaguing the minds of the two girls were analyzed at a lightning pace.

She knew that this had happened several times before. Once in Wave Country when yelling at two boys who had eaten too much, once when Naruto had been about to fall onto a mass of icy shards, and once when a Sound ninja had threatened to kill Sasuke. She understood now that when Lina's and Sakura's thoughts were similar enough that they somehow became one. It was rare, however, because Lina was more confident and aggressive than Sakura and Sakura was more concerned with things that Lina considered trivialities.

This time their minds were closer than before and the effect was far stronger. She could tell that this was an even more unusual event due to Lina's uncharacteristic uncertainty – despite how the sorceress had tried to cover it up – from the failure of the Dragon Slave.

She could also feel the minds of the two girls, still separate entities though currently joined. And she could feel them slowly mixing together, parts from one spilling over into the other. Neither girl would like that and they would likely instinctively shield their minds to prevent this from happening again.

Her mind turned to more urgent matters. As with many events that had occurred around Lina, Mazoku seemed to be at the heart of what was happening around Sakura.

Having both Sakura's and Lina's knowledge as well as their memories allowed her to more fully understand what they had witnessed. She already knew that Naruto's chakra somehow mixed with the Mazoku's energy. What she now realized was that it happened all the time, though at a nearly unnoticeable level. She could feel it this very moment. Gaara was the same, though the proportion of Mazoku energy was currently much higher in the redhead.

Sasuke's case was different. From what Lina and Sakura had felt she knew that his chakra was not mixing with Xelloss' power at all. Instead it was as if Sasuke's chakra had been replaced entirely by the Mazoku's energy when the marks had covered his body. She wondered what did happen to Sasuke's chakra. Was it consumed by the process that brought the Mazoku energy to him? She suspected that the only one who would know was Xelloss and asking him – assuming she encountered him – would probably be an exercise in futility.

Sensing Xelloss' presence had further confused Lina about why her black magic had failed. They had been constantly on the move or fighting since her attempted Dragon Slave and Lina had taken little time to think about it. The possible reasons why black magic would fail were, in fact, quite limited.

The most obvious possibility was if Shabranigdo was **ruined** – completely and utterly destroyed. She remembered Lina experiencing such a situation before – the spells calling on the power of Chaos Dragon Garv and Hellmaster Fibrizo no longer worked. The thought that Ruby Eye could be gone was astonishing to the extent that Lina had difficulty believing it could be possible, even though Lina had memories of destroying one of the other Mazoku Lords. If it were true then there was nothing to be done at the moment; she would have to create new spells drawing power from the Mazoku that still existed, which would take a large amount of time and research.

Shabranigdo could have denied Lina's call for power. That was also something that the sorceress had experienced. Dark Star had once not allowed her to use his power; but that had only occurred because Lina had been battling Dark Star himself at that time. It seemed unlikely that Shabranigdo would prevent Lina from casting a Dragon Slave considering that he had never done so, even after Lina had ruined one of his fragments. Alternatively, the Mazoku could be disallowing all black magic but that seemed even less likely. Either way, walking up to Shabranigdo and asking for his permission was not an option.

There could be a barrier in place that prevented the casting of black magic. Humans were not capable of creating such a thing but the Mazoku and the Shinzoku were. It would go a long way toward explaining why sorcery was nearly unknown in the land where Sakura was born – much like how magic knowledge and ability had nearly died out in the lands outside the Mazoku Barrier in Lina's time. That would also be a problem that could not be solved quickly, if at all.

The last idea that came to her mind was that this world might not be the same as the world where Lina had lived. The only way to call upon a Mazoku in another world was to have an item attuned to that Mazoku, such as the Demon Blood Talismans which were attuned to the four Mazoku Lords.

She was now reassessing the assumptions that Lina had made ever since her awakening. Lina had been born in the Red World, where Ruby Eye Shabranigdo had fought Flare Dragon Ceipheed. Lina had naturally assumed that she was still in her own world. But the Hokage had not shown any familiarity with the history that Lina had described to him. No one in Sakura's memory had ever spoken of Shabranigdo. Furthermore, Lina had not noticed due to her familiarity but Sakura had thought that Xelloss' power felt alien even compared to the other Mazoku they had encountered. If this was not the Ceipheed's World then Xelloss was an Outsider here.

The question remained: which world was this?

From Lina's knowledge she knew that there were four worlds – four universes. They were vastly different but still similar in many ways – the existence of humans, Mazoku, and Shinzoku in each of them being the largest similarity. Through various experiences, Lina had learned some things about the other three worlds.

Most of what Lina knew came from Sirius, a Shinzoku from the Black World. He had described his home as a world with 'high technology' and 'spaceships.' Having Sakura's memories allowed her to understand what he meant better than Lina ever had. Sakura's world had the idea of traveling through space but was far from developing that level of technology. There were also odd gaps even compared to the low levels of technology in the Red World. Cannons and guns were rare in Lina's world but non-existent here. Besides the discrepancy in technology, there were almost no gods or demons in the Black World after Dark Star's destruction. This world certainly was not the Black World.

Lina's knowledge gave her less information about the White and Blue Worlds. Sirius had said the White World was 'full of liars' and the Blue World was 'relatively peaceful.' The land of Sakura's birth could hardly be called peaceful but 'full of liars?' She had thought that the deceptions she had encountered were because Lina and Sakura were around ninja. What if the level of deceit went beyond that? What if the Mazoku in this world focused more on deception than in Lina's? If this was the White World then the Mazoku Lord here was _Hakumu-ou_, literally White Fog but more commonly called Death Fog. And according to Sakura's education white was the color traditional associated with death in the Elemental Nations.

All the pieces seemed to fit together. And there was a way to test it, possibly eliminating Gaara at the same time. Lina had summoned the power of Death Fog before as part of a spell that called upon all four of the Mazoku Lords. She had the Chaos Words she needed. Altering a spell to use Death Fog's power instead of Ruby Eye's was a trivial matter.

In her present state the chant was unnecessary. She did not need to worry about control – between Sakura's natural control of her own spirit and Lina's experience there would be no problems – but she was low on power and would need to keep the spell relatively small. As the Chaos Words flowed through her mind, her time sense began to return to normal. The genin around her were moving again – Gai's students slowly backing away from the sphere of sand surrounding Gaara, Shikamaru opening his mouth to call for a retreat, and Naruto's fist clenching in impotent anger.

Her spell connected with the most powerful Mazoku in this world and its power flowed back to her. Power that she had felt before.

She felt a grin form on her face. _The greatest of the demons are the Tailed Beasts. And the greatest of the Bijuu is the Kyuubi. Sakura had it right all along,_ she realized. Sealed inside Naruto was not a priest or a general or even a Greater Mazoku as Lina had been thinking but a Mazoku Lord instead.

oOo

When the Kyuubi – Death Fog – felt the spell's call, he was pleasantly surprised. Pleasantly in the sense of knowing that massive devastation was about to occur. The call contained a type of pledge: a request for power and an oath to use that power for destruction.

This type of sorcery was not something that could be blocked by the seal that the Kyuubi was contained by and he eagerly let his energy flow back through the link created by the sorcerer – **sorceress**, he corrected himself.

The link was not simply a conduit of power. It also allowed him to see into the sorceress' mind to a degree. As the Kyuubi touched the mind of the sorceress he was able to determine that she was highly experienced in black magic. There was something more, however, not just the remnants of _kuro majutsu_. Her mind and soul had also been touched by his own master, his creator, his mother.

Death Fog could not feel fear any more than he could experience love or happiness. So perhaps the best word to describe what he felt would be… anticipation.

oOo

As the Mazoku's energy filled the red sphere in her hands, she idly wondered why a nine-tailed fox would be associated with fog of all things. _A question for another day,_ she reflected.

The level of power was such that even her perfectly formed containment spell did not trap all of the energy. Streamers of red energy leaked from the spherical shell, not doing her any harm but ruffling her clothes and causing her long pink hair to lift as if being blown back by a strong breeze.

Her spell caught the attention of the Leaf ninja. Naruto was the first to react. Whether it was because of his connection to the Kyuubi or some other instinct for danger, the blond opened his mouth and shouted: "Run!"

The crimson light shining from her spell reached a nearly blinding level, though a part of the spell protected her own eyes from the glare. The only things left to do were to say the spell's name and throw it at her target. Having just been invented though, the spell did not have a name. _No reason to break a tradition,_ she decided. She thrust her hands toward Gaara's position and roared out a phrase that no one present would forget.

"**Dragon Slave!**"

The Konoha genin were moving away quickly when she released the spell. The crimson ball of energy that was the strongest spell in black magic flew from her hands, trailed by thick spirals of red sparks.

The spell impacted with the sand surrounding the Suna ninja and then began its unstoppable expansion.

Sakura stumbled, feeling completely drained. The kunoichi stared in horror at the approaching surface of the red sphere that was destroying all it touched as it grew. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and she was suddenly airborne, moving away from the source of destruction.

It was difficult for Sakura to think of anything else but the Dragon Slave as she watched the spell's effect. The perfect globe, filled with energy that ripped everything apart, continued to enlarge even as it exceeded a hundred meters in diameter.

Sakura knew that the spell was powerful based on Lina's description. She knew it affected a large area. Somehow, hearing about it and actually seeing it were completely different.

The pink-haired girl felt a little giddy as she thought of the feeling of power she had experienced while holding the black magic spell. She now understood just how powerful she could become from learning sorcery. Of all the ninja that they had studied in the academy – the present and past Kage from the various hidden villages, the infamous missing-nin, the shinobi that otherwise became well known for their strength – the only female had been Tsunade of the _Densetsu no Sannin_. It was difficult to believe that a kunoichi could compete with her male counterparts when there was such a disparity in the higher ranks. But now Sakura had first-hand experience.

_**Definitely on the small side, not even half a kilometer across,**_ Lina said. _**We'll do better next time.**_ The sorceress cackled internally.

Sakura was ignoring Lina for the moment, her attention focused elsewhere. She could no longer feel the power of the Mazoku sealed inside Gaara. She winced slightly as she realized that he was probably dead.

_**If we're lucky,**_ Lina murmured. _**If we're really lucky the Mazoku will have been damaged significantly also.**_

"You have **got** to teach me that," Naruto said in awe.

With a gasp Sakura finally noticed her position, awkwardly slung across Naruto's right shoulder. The blond-haired genin was looking over his other shoulder as he leapt away from the battle scene. "Sasuke-kun!" she cried but instantly spotted the black-haired Uchiha being carried in the arms of another Naruto.

Sakura felt a thrill run through her as she did every time she looked at Sasuke's handsome visage. At least her union with Lina had not changed her liking for the black-eyed boy.

_**Please, spare me from another rant about the perfection of 'Sasuke-kun,'**_ Lina grumbled.

Sakura frowned at Lina's comments. It would have saved so much trouble if Lina's opinion of Sasuke had been changed. _Oh, well,_ she thought with a sigh, _guess I can't have everything._

Naruto landed from his latest jump with a thump that shifted Sakura's position on his shoulder. Her vision now consisted of mostly the ground and Naruto's back.

"You can put me down now," Sakura said just before realizing that the blond was already lowering her to the ground. The kunoichi of Team Seven tried to stand immediately but she wobbled and fell on her rump.

"Are you okay?" one Naruto asked.

"What happened to your hair?" the Naruto who was carrying Sasuke questioned.

"My hair?" Sakura reached behind her and pulled a handful of strands around to look at. Her ordinarily pink hair was bleach white. Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

_**That's because we're completely out of magic,**_ Lina told her. _**Nothing permanent.**_

"I'm out of spiritual energy," Sakura relayed to Naruto. Both copies of the boy gave a nod of understanding.

_**Best thing would be to eat something.**_

Sakura groaned in annoyance but then heard her stomach growl. She blushed faintly and chuckled. "I guess we should take a break."

The Naruto carrying Sasuke lowered the Uchiha boy to the ground and promptly popped into a cloud of smoke. The other Naruto sat down and began digging in one of his pouches for the remainder of his lunch.

Sakura copied him and pulled out one of her small _bentou_.

"What about Sasuke?"

"You'll have to keep carrying him," Sakura answered. "I can't cast any spells right now. Not even to wake up Sasuke-kun," she finished with disappointment evident in her voice.

Naruto unwrapped a sandwich. He glanced back at the way they had come and then turned toward Sakura. His squinting eyes seemed to be curved upward even more than normal and he covered his mouth with one hand as he snickered. "What do you think the other teams are doing right now?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as Lina laughed in the back of her mind.

oOo

Temari was displeased to say the least.

The second exam had started off easy. Her youngest brother had been acting normal – for him – which meant that the first team they encountered quickly became crushed lumps of flesh and bone. Better yet they had gotten a Heaven scroll. They could have easily been at the tower and finished in another hour.

Then Kankurou had decided to reason with Gaara. Sometimes she wondered if the puppeteer had any survival instinct at all. She had been forced to get involved in the argument to keep Gaara calm. It had seemed to work but then he had taken off in a completely random direction, ignoring both her and Kankurou.

When they had come across a small crowd of Leaf genin she had worried again about Gaara getting too excited from battle.

Temari was very determined not to think about why her brother or the monster inside of him wanted a girl alive.

Gaara had fought defensively as he usually did but amazingly enough the Konoha ninja were skilled enough to keep themselves alive. But Gaara or Shukaku – it did not really matter which – had gotten agitated as the fight dragged on. When he had started talking in a deeper voice and his sand began drawing inward, she and Kankurou had decided to get some more distance. A kilometer would have been nice but was unfortunately impractical.

Which brought her to now.

Gaara inside his spherical cocoon, almost certainly happily chatting away about blood and death. And the little pink-haired girl holding a blindingly bright red ball of fire that was about the size of her head.

Temari was not surprised when the Leaf kunoichi threw the fiery sphere at her brother. She was not even surprised when crimson globe began expanding after it crashed into Gaara's sand. She was surprised when she and Kankurou were forced to leap farther away into the dense forest to avoid the raging jutsu.

Unlike what she expected, the jutsu was not accompanied by a massive roar of flames. The ground under her feet shook violently and she could hear the earth breaking from the force of the explosion. But the most pronounced sound was a whine that grew in pitch and volume as the destruction spread.

Fire had little effect on Gaara's defenses but Temari had no idea what would happen to him inside that **thing**.

A dark form flew out of the red dome, passed between Kankurou and herself, and crashed into one of the giant trees behind her with a sharp crack.

Temari turned to look and saw the blackened form of her youngest brother imbedded deeply in the trunk of the tree. "Gaara!" she said in astonishment. The blonde kunoichi and her other brother darted closer to check on their youngest sibling.

Black grains of sand drifted away from Gaara's face, arms, and legs as he struggled out of the indented side of the tree. The gourd that was normally on the redhead's back had dissolved and cushioned his impact. His clothes were nearly ruined; the legs of his trousers in tatters, gaping holes in his shirt, and his sandals and sash completely missing.

"Looks like his sand saved him," Kankurou whispered.

Maybe her brother had some instincts after all if he was being cautious about getting Gaara's attention at the moment. "But where is the rest of it?" Temari asked quietly.

Gaara stumbled away from the tree, the sand that had been his gourd following him sluggishly. The black sand that had been covering him did not move at all but even including it, the bulk of the sand that Gaara always carried with him was missing. Temari looked back at the bubble of angry red energy that was now beginning to shrink.

Kankurou followed her line of vision. "You think it destroyed even that blood-soaked sand?" he asked in a strangled voice. "I am so not messing with that chick again."

A small groan brought Temari's attention back to Gaara. The red-haired shinobi's eyes were closed and he was holding one hand against his head, near his tattoo of the kanji 'Ai.' Gaara opened his green eyes – which looked almost black due to the red light still shining from the strange technique – for a moment then they rolled back into his head and the short ninja collapsed onto the forest floor.

Temari took a step toward Gaara's body but some of the remaining sand curled around him protectively.

Kankurou grunted. "What do we do now?" the puppeteer asked.

Gaara being unconscious was far better than him being asleep but this was still a frustrating situation. Being the eldest, Temari was hypothetically the team leader in the absence of their jounin sensei. She was far from certain that they could move Gaara safely which left them with little choice. "We wait."

"And what if that pink-haired chick comes looking for us?" Kankurou's face paint usually made his smirking face more fearsome; now it only served to make his nervousness more apparent.

Temari glared at her brother. The harsh red light faded completely, returning the forest to its natural greens and browns. She could not see the stream – or whatever was left of it – from her position but the sunlight visible in that direction told her that a large number of trees had been destroyed.

The blonde kunoichi pulled her giant fan from behind her back and opened it. Temari rested one end of the fan on the ground but kept both her hands on the handle so she could react quickly. If she saw so much as a squirrel move, it was going to get a Kamaitachi sent in its direction.

oOo

When Naruto shouted "Run!" Maito Gai's three students swiftly came to the conclusion that it was good advice.

For Lee it was a combination of his utmost faith in Sakura – having seen some of her passionate techniques already – and his trust that her teammate Naruto knew more than he did. Neji was moving at the same time, the Hyuuga Byakugan eyes being able to see the burning fires held within the cute girl's hands better than his own. Tenten, who was so youthfully observant from her training with weapons, was following the two boys an instant later.

Lee and his teammates were jumping away when the girl with the lovely pale rose hair attacked with a cry of "**Dragon Slave!**" Sakura's jutsu screamed shrilly as it flew from her dainty hands. Lee stopped for a moment to watch it blossom into a magnificent display of strength when it struck the sand shielding the ninja they had been fighting. He continued to gaze in round-eyed amazement as the flames exploded boundlessly from their source.

The green-clad noted the other Leaf genin departing and Naruto cleverly carrying both of his teammates. Lee bounded off again as the blazing wall advanced.

Lee briefly mourned the loss of his weights but he knew that replacements would be easy enough to obtain. And he would certainly have an inspiring story to tell Gai when they finished the exam.

Lee found his teammates positioned safely – for the moment at least – in the limbs of a majestic tree.

"What the hell is that?!" Tenten asked, her voice filled with the righteous desire to learn.

"I… don't know." Lee's rival Neji was always so calm and collected even as he faced the uncertainties of life. "I've never seen anything like that Suna shinobi or that girl's jutsu."

Just as the life-giving sun must always set, the product of the beautiful girl's skill began to dwindle. "Yosh!" Lee shouted excitedly at the imagery. "Sakura-san has defeated a difficult foe!"

Tenten made a feline sound of vexation. "How did a kunoichi younger than me learn something like that?" Her raven hair glistened in the ruby light that shone from the dying blaze. The weapons expert's right hand rose to her mouth and she delicately nibbled on her nail of her thumb.

"Tenten! Gai-sensei will be overflowing with joy to learn that you have found a worthy rival!"

The kunoichi look startled for a second. "Don't you dare tell him anything of the sort!" she protested due to her bashful nature.

"Your fires of youth will surely reach new heights, Tenten!" Lee exclaimed.

"In case you have forgotten," Neji said as he once again displayed the voice of reason, "we're still in the middle of the exam and need to capture a Heaven scroll." After one last long glance at the location where they had valiantly fought, he deactivated his Bloodline Limit.

"Sakura-san and the others are safe?" Lee asked.

Neji exhaled brusquely. "The other two Konoha teams are farther away than we are." The Hyuuga boy paused to gather his thoughts. "That sand user is incapacitated and his team isn't moving."

"He survived such an attack?" Lee said in admiration. "Truly a singular adversary."

Neji turned to the north and beckoned to Lee and Tenten. "Come on, I don't want to waste any more time. There's another team wandering nearby."

"They can't have missed that little light show," Tenten stated. "Do you think they'll run away or come to investigate?" she asked.

"Looked like they were arguing to me."

"Perfect."

Lee smiled widely as he followed Neji. It occurred to him that the strongest Leaf genin was not a member of his team, after all. It would be more difficult than he initially realized to impress the extraordinary Haruno Sakura but giving up was one thing that Gai had never taught him.

oOo

Shikamaru's mind raced to find a way out of the situation. The largest problem was that there had been too many surprises already. He hated surprises; they showed that there were unknown variables at work.

The jutsu that the Suna ninja – Gaara was his name according to Kabuto's information – was like nothing he had ever heard of, perhaps it was a Kekkei Genkai. Shikamaru had seen several potential ways to defeat the red-haired shinobi but he had waited too long to implement them. The way the sand was being used had altered and Gaara's defense was stronger now than it had been initially.

The Nara boy's thoughts were derailed again as his blonde teammate created an icy blue bow and arrow from thin air. She did not use any hand seals, just some odd motions with her hands and a yell of 'Freeze Arrow.' Why was she using _Eigo_ words to announce her jutsu? How could she be using a Hyouton to begin with? That would imply that she had affinities with both Water and Wind. Why was it so similar to the techniques that Sakura had used to incapacitate Sasuke?

When the sand-manipulating ninja enclosed himself completely in a spherical shell Shikamaru decided that it was time to move. "Now's our best chance to leave," he said.

Sakura stood there looking slightly nervous as she had since the fight began. Naruto looked rebellious as he often did but if Shikamaru could convince Sakura to move then he was sure that Naruto would follow.

Shikamaru understood why Team Seven would be reluctant to flee. Retreats were often messy and the Sand shinobi had very clearly stated his intention was to capture Sakura. They would be in trouble if Gaara managed to cut them off from the other Leaf genin, especially with one of their team members comatose.

But with the Suna shinobi apparently ignoring his surroundings, Shikamaru thought that there was a high probability that the Konoha genin could find a better place to fight. Somewhere that would allow Chouji to use his family's Human Bullet Tank technique for one – the 'Nikuman Sensha' as Ino derogatorily called it gave his best friend a strength and momentum that Gaara would find difficult to counter.

An irritated expression crossed Sakura's face. Just as suddenly, the pink-haired girl was grinning. Then her whole body language changed. The changes may have been subtle but they were numerous and obvious to a skilled observer such as Shikamaru. He had seen it happen before, when she had attacked Sasuke, but this time it was more dramatic. It was almost as if a completely different person was now standing where Sakura had been.

Shikamaru opened his mouth to ask Sakura if she had thought of something but closed it again as she cupped her hands at chest level in front of her. A bright mote of red light appeared between her palms. It grew quickly and crimson energy spilled from the orb, curling around the pink-haired girl's body and lifting her hair. One of the tendrils of red light brushed across his arm and he shuddered at the sensation. Shikamaru could feel the power but there was also a malevolence that reminded him of the aura that Gaara possessed.

The kunoichi of Team Seven pulled her hands and the glowing red ball to the side of her body but her attention never left the sphere of sand.

Shikamaru had never seen Sakura smirk before. During written exams she had a quiet confidence but that was completely unlike the ferocious glee on her face now.

"Run!" shouted Naruto.

Shikamaru motioned to Chouji with a hand signal and the Akimichi boy scooped up Ino, who was distracted with staring at her rival. Team Ten ran from the battle, though not under the conditions that Shikamaru had expected.

"**Dragon Slave!**"

A loud rumble like an avalanche and a light that made it seem as though a small red sun had been born encouraged Shikamaru and Chouji to put a good amount of distance between themselves and their previous location. Ino complained the entire time.

They finally stopped and Chouji sat Ino down. The blonde kunoichi slapped Chouji's hand as he let her go and muttered something about his 'meaty arms.' She stopped ranting when she caught sight of the crimson dome that had engulfed part of the landscape.

"I guess they can take care of themselves, huh?" Chouji asked. If the question had come from Ino it would have been in a very sarcastic tone but the large boy's voice contained only admiration.

"At least this one was smaller than the other," Ino mumbled.

Shikamaru was certain that was what his female teammate had said. There was no doubt in his mind that those were the words that had come from her mouth. He just could not put them in a proper context. He was not sure that he wanted to think about it too much. Something strange was going on between Ino and Sakura and it was bound to be…

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said in a low voice.

oOo

Kakashi sat in one of the 'waiting rooms' of the tower in the center of the Forest of Death. There were several comfortable couches and a half-dozen recliners, one of which he occupied. There was a large bay window which looked out over a portion of the forest. The floor he was on was just slightly above the tops of the trees. A large bank of monitors showed real-time pictures of several positions around the tower as well as a few locations deep in the forest – places like the bridges where battles often occurred during the war games that were occasionally held.

There were a number of such rooms in the tower. Each of the nations that had sent genin for the exam had been assigned such a room – a place for the jounin instructors to wait. This particular room was the largest but then Konoha did have the most teams competing.

Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, Maito Gai, and a pair jounin that Kakashi was only vaguely familiar with were present.

Kakashi reached the bottom of the page that he was reading and flipped to the next. He let a blush cross his face. Any random jounin was skilled enough to notice instantly and Kurenai was no exception. The woman gave a pointed sniff. Teasing people was half of the reason that he read his books in public.

All in all, it should have been a fairly relaxing room. There was naturally some nervousness due to the fact that their genin teams were in a potentially dangerous situation and that the jounin sensei could not do anything to help them. Kakashi believed that his team would not have any problems, however. They had performed admirably in Land of the Waves and the exam could hardly be more dangerous than that battle had been.

No, the real problem was not the danger his students were in, it was Gai.

The green-clad jounin was continually pacing. Every thirty minutes he would begin crying about his 'cute little students' and the terrible perils that they were facing. After a minute of bawling his eyes out, the taijutsu master would then begin jumping around and shouting about how their 'powers of youth' would see them through any tribulation.

Every thirty minutes.

On the dot.

Kakashi had no intention of staying in this room the entire time but it was going to be a long five days if Gai kept this up.

It was slightly over two and a half hours since the exam had started and Gai had just ended his last bout of hyperactivity. The silver-haired jounin glanced at the clock on the wall. Twenty-five more minutes until he did it again.

Kakashi noticed Kurenai staring at him and he decided to return her attention, though in as lazy a manner as he could.

"Do you really think your students will do well in this exam?" the female jounin asked.

"Why wouldn't they?" Kakashi retorted.

Kurenai shook her head in an exasperated manner. "I saw their testing scores. There's so much disparity in your team."

"It was called 'balance' when the team composition was determined," said the sensei of Team Seven blandly.

The red-eyed woman sitting across from him snorted.

"Yes!" Gai exclaimed. "Even my team was said by some to be doomed to failure but they have shown how brightly their youth burns!"

Kakashi suppressed a twitch of surprise. It was unusual for him and Gai to be on the same side of an argument.

"But you waited a year before putting your team into the chuunin exams," Kurenai pointed out.

Gai rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That is true."

"And I believe the inequality to be greater in your team, Kakashi. Haruno's class ranking was not bad but she and Uzumaki had the lowest practical scores of all the genin that passed." The instructor of Team Eight narrowed her ruby eyes at Kakashi. "I hope that you've been giving them decent training."

The silver-haired man shifted his gaze back to the book in his hands.

Kakashi suspected that Kurenai was more concerned about Sakura than Naruto. She was always ready to start an argument any time she thought that one of the genin kunoichi was not being given the same consideration as her teammates. Sakura probably brought out that protective nature even more given that his pink-haired student had been classified by the academy as a promising genjutsu user.

Kakashi was not about to waste time worrying about Sakura out of all his genin. It was a toss-up as to which one of his students was the strongest. Sasuke was the most skilled in taijutsu, Sakura was essentially a ninjutsu expert, and Naruto's shadow clones made up for a lot of his deficits.

The biggest problem in his team was their mental states not their fighting abilities. And Kakashi thought that Sakura was the most stable even considering her surprising revelations.

"Based on what I recall reading, Uzumaki badly needed more hand-to-hand combat instruction and Haruno had no assistance in developing her aptitude for genjutsu," stated Kurenai.

Kakashi wondered just why so many people wanted to peg his team members as tai, nin, and genjutsu. If they had to be categorized, he probably would have said that they were all ninjutsu types – Sakura already had an extremely wide range of spells, Sasuke would likely start copying every jutsu he encountered, and Naruto had the most potential given the Kyuubi's chakra in addition to his own.

"I did give Sakura a scroll on Narakumi no Jutsu," Kakashi said.

The answer seemed to infuriate Kurenai given the way she started glaring at him.

This was one reason why Kakashi had never had a steady relationship with a woman. He seemed to rile them up without intending to. Kakashi glanced at Asuma, mutely appealing for his help, but the cigarette-smoking jounin just grinned back.

"You-" Kurenai's next sentence was interrupted by the entire tower shaking for several seconds.

"An earthquake?" Asuma wondered aloud.

All the jounin in the room were on alert now. If it was some type of attack they were ready to spring into action. One of the other jounin in the room moved toward the door.

"Look!" Gai said, pointing out the window. Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai stood to get a better view.

Several kilometers southeast of the tower an enormous hemisphere of red energy was growing, becoming visible over the tops of the trees.

"I can't feel any chakra signature," Asuma muttered. "An illusion?"

Kurenai shook her head.

The light from the dome was nearly as bright as the sun. The other jounin used their hands to shield their vision. Kakashi closed his right eye and raised his _hitai-ate_ to reveal his Sharingan eye; the glare would not affect his borrowed Bloodline Limit. Kakashi idly noted that there was no shockwave accompanying the strange explosion – the surrounding trees were not being pushed away by displaced air. Most of the jounin's attention was on the chakra that was fueling the jutsu. Massive coils of black energy – like Kakashi had only seen once before in his life – roiled within the dome, obviously attempting to escape their confinement but held in place by some barrier that his red eye could not see.

The trees of the Forest of Death were larger than most of the trees elsewhere in Fire Country, many of them reaching nearly a hundred meters tall. But the demonically-fueled technique more than doubled the height of the surrounding woods.

Kakashi did not know whether it was the result of something Naruto or Sakura did or if they had found some way to combine their powers but he was definitely going to have a talk with them when they finished the exam.

The silver-haired jounin surreptitiously lowered his forehead protector back in place and opened his normal eye, turning it toward his book.

The room remained silent as the red light coming through the window faded.

A pair of sandals holding a woman's feet entered Kakashi's down-turned line of sight. One of the feet tapped impatiently against the floor and he reluctantly looked up at Kurenai.

"I don't suppose you thought to take a look with that eye of yours," the female jounin said sarcastically.

"Ah," Kakashi said ambiguously.

Gai clenched his fists and pressed them against his forehead. "Kakashi!" he cried. "Your attitude is too hip!"

Kakashi wondered if he could distract them and escape. After all, he really did not want to explain that some genin had managed to tap into that much demonic chakra. "I think I should speak with Hokage-sama first."

"I think we should come with you," Kurenai responded, causing Kakashi to sigh.

oOo

After eating and relaxing for half an hour Sakura felt better. In a very short discussion she and Naruto agreed that they were getting attacked regardless of whether they stayed in one place or moved about, so they decided to continue moving toward the tower. Resting longer was somewhat appealing but Lina told her that restoring her spiritual energy would take either copious amounts of food or days of rest.

The temporarily white-haired girl checked Sasuke's condition again. The black-haired boy's eyes were moving under his closed eyelids but no amount of jostling awakened him.

Once Sakura was ready to resume their trek Naruto made a single shadow clone. The bunshin picked Sasuke up in a fireman's carry, the larger boy draped across the blond's shoulders. The real Naruto then insisted on carrying Sakura herself.

Sakura objected for a few minutes but her short teammate was adamant and she was still feeling tired. Then they quarreled about exactly how she was to be carried. She finally agreed to be piggy-backed which was embarrassing but less so than being held bridal style as Naruto initially suggested.

They stayed mostly on the forest floor, Naruto jogging along and making small jumps over the roots that he could not easily go around. The orange-clad genin was getting better at cushioning his landings but Sakura thought her back could still feel one particularly jarring impact.

In an amazing contrast to the previous leg of their journey, Team Seven did not see the slightest trace of other ninja as they made their way. At Sakura's prompting, Naruto made another Kage Bunshin and set it to scouting ahead. They continued traveling northwest, loosely parallel to the stream they had been at earlier.

The other surprise was that Naruto stayed mostly silent during the trip. He occasionally asked if she needed to rest a while or if she needed to drink something. The blond was not being annoying for a change, he was simply being nice.

Sakura could almost admit to herself that his attention was… sweet. She felt Lina grinning at her and she tried to mentally push the sorceress away.

"So..." Naruto said in a casual voice that was not at all normal for the energetic blond.

"Hmm?"

Naruto lightly hopped over a long, thin root that meandered about a foot above the ground. Sakura looked back and watched the clone carrying Sasuke go through similar motions. The little light that filtered through the green canopy above was beginning to fade and she was worried about Naruto's occasional bouts of clumsiness.

"Um…"

"What is it, Naruto?" Sakura asked, curious as to what her blond teammate was reluctant to say.

"How did you make that big explosion?"

Sakura looked down at Naruto's messy blond hair and blinked. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously and her fingers twitched. The arms that were loosely wrapped around his neck tightened. "Is that why you're acting so considerate?" she growled.

"Gack… Saku… cha… air…" Naruto gasped out between labored breaths.

"Don't think you can get the secrets of the universe from me so easily," the kunoichi said haughtily as she focused on her efforts to throttle the blond nuisance. _Naruto being nice? What was I thinking? The only time he's nice is when he wants something._

_**You're exaggerating,**_ Lina said but Sakura did not bother to respond.

Naruto took another staggering step. He let go of Sakura's right leg and raised his arm and to point ahead and upward. "Tower," he croaked out.

"Tower?" Sakura halted her strangling of Naruto and he noisily filled his lungs. Through an opening in the canopy of leaves she could see the top of a tall building. "Finally," the kunoichi said in relief.

Naruto set Sakura down and gave her a sheepish smile. "I do want you to teach me that 'Dragu Slave' jutsu," he said, having a little trouble pronouncing the name of the spell. Sakura gave him a frosty glare. "But it's not like that's the only reason I had!"

Sakura turned away from the blond and walked past him. Naruto pouted and kicked at the ground. The clone carrying Sasuke shook its head and spoke up, "Man, you really screwed up."

"Oh, shut up," Naruto snapped in reply. The blond genin and his bunshin trotted after Sakura. "Come on, Sakura-chan," he said pleadingly. "Don't be mad."

The white-haired girl continued to ignore Naruto as she strode forward. Another half-hour of walking brought them to the edge of the forest around the tower. The sun was sinking rapidly behind the tall trees and shadow now covered more of the ground than light did.

Naruto's scouting clone bounded up to Team Seven. "No one else around on this side," it reported. The bunshin looked at Sakura who had her arms crossed and her lips pressed into a thin line. "You did something stupid, didn't you?" it accused the real Naruto.

"Even your clones are smarter than you are," Sakura said acidly. Lina snickered internally at the comment.

"Everybody's picking on me," Naruto grumbled. "You said nobody on this side?"

"Yeah, a little farther north there's some traps," the copy of Naruto answered. "One of them almost took off my leg!" the clone said while pointing down. Naruto and the clone looked at the chakra-composed leg. "Well, you know what I mean. Anyway, this side is clear." The bunshin popped into wisps of smoke.

"Well, you heard him! Let's go!"

"Keep your voice down," Sakura said in a more reasonable tone. She drew her kunai and a handful of shuriken and walked out into the open. _I can't wait for this test to be over,_ she privately groused.

_**Same here,**_ Lina commented. _**I think we ran into more than our share of the twenty-five other teams out there.**_

_At least they weren't __**all**__ enemies, _Sakura thought with a giggle that made Naruto cock his head in confusion behind her back.

No overly powerful genin attacked at the last second. No team jumped out into the open to challenge them before Sakura reached a pair of doors with an intact tag and pushed them open. No demon-possessed ninja appeared as she walked through with Naruto and his Sasuke-bearing clone on her heels.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as she let the doors swing shut. She returned the kunai and throwing stars to their respective holsters.

Naruto's clone laid Sasuke down on the floor. It pressed its index and middle fingers against the unconscious boy's carotid artery in his neck. "His pulse is still steady," the bunshin said before puffing away.

_**He'll sleep like a rock for at least several more hours,**_ Lina stated.

"Now what?" Naruto asked as he looked around the empty room. His eyes landed on a framed piece of parchment with writing on it. "'If you lack heaven, seek wisdom…'" the blond-haired genin quoted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Looks like Hokage-sama wrote it," Sakura said as she noticed the three kanji for 'Sandaime' written at the end. "I guess the only thing left to do is open the scrolls." Sakura opened her belt pouch and withdrew the Earth scroll.

Naruto crouched down and reached into Sasuke's shirt, retrieving their original Heaven scroll. "So we open them now?"

Sakura shrugged but pulled open the scroll she held and Naruto copied her. The inside was a complex seal surrounding the kanji for 'Person.'

White smoke swirled out of the seal.

"Yikes!" Naruto yelped and tossed the Heaven scroll down.

Naruto's shout made Sakura jump and the Earth scroll joined its partner on the floor. "Did it injure you?" Sakura demanded, her green eyes darting around the room. Her reaction made her realized just how badly her nerves were frayed. A kunai was in her left hand again.

"No," her blond teammate said as he blushed with embarrassment. "It just surprised me."

The smoke from the two scrolls spiraled together and a hazy human form appeared within the cloud.

"A summoning," Sakura whispered.

Naruto positioned himself in front of Sasuke and raised his hands into the cross-like seal for his Kage Bunshin.

The smoke cleared to reveal their academy teacher Iruka.

Sakura slumped to her knees and let herself relax, letting out a sigh of gratitude.

"Hey, you three. I'm amazed you finished already," Iruka said. The chuunin blinked at seeing Sakura's white hair and then frowned as he realized that Sasuke lay unmoving. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"First this guy with one of those weird breathing things over his mouth blindsided me!" Naruto exclaimed. "But we chased him off!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. _It's his own fault for asking,_ she thought. _Now he's going to have to listen to Naruto for the next half-hour._

_**This might be amusing to hear,**_ Lina said.

Iruka had a tolerant look on his face but Sakura wondered how long that would last.

"Then this creepy – you wouldn't believe how creepy – lady and her snakes attacked us!" The blond boy's voice was growing louder if anything as he continued. Sakura guessed that trying to stay quiet all day had been taxing on her teammate and now he was making up for it. "One her monster snakes ate me but I got out!"

_Ate him? _Sakura thought in surprise.

_**I wonder exactly how he got out?**_

The kunoichi's nose wrinkled in distaste. _I don't want to know._

Iruka was looking much more worried than he had initially. The academy instructor opened his mouth but did not immediately find an opportunity to interrupt Naruto.

"Then Sakura-chan scared an even bigger snake away!"

_**He would have to mention that,**_ Lina privately complained.

_I thought you were finding this amusing,_ Sakura replied mockingly.

"And then Sasuke was knocked out and this Sound team attacked us! Me and Sakura-chan took care of them! And then this guy that controlled sand…" Naruto paused for a moment. Sakura supposed that the blond was unsure exactly what to say about that fight.

"Woah," Iruka said, taking the opening Naruto's silence provided. "Calm down, Naruto. You don't have to tell me everything right now." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and nodded. "There was a woman controlling the snakes of the forest?" he asked, his face filled with confusion.

"No, she was summoning them," Sakura answered.

The confusion on the chuunin's face was replaced by something like dread. "But the snake summoning scroll…" Iruka began but he trailed off.

"She bit Sasuke and there's some sort of seal on his neck now," Sakura added, finally having a chance to give what she felt to be the most important piece of information.

Iruka quickly stepped to Sasuke's side and bent over to look at the black-haired genin's neck. When he straightened, his expression was grim. "I've only heard…" The chuunin once again failed to complete his sentence. "I'm supposed to talk a little bit about being a chuunin but this requires immediate attention."

"What's wrong with Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

Iruka hesitated. "Kakashi can explain later." The pony-tailed man picked up Sasuke and headed toward a corner of the room where a set of stairs led upward. "Has he been asleep since then?"

Sakura and Naruto followed the older ninja. "No," Sakura answered, "he woke up but…" Now it was the kunoichi's turn to fall silent.

"He wasn't acting normal," Naruto supplied.

"Well, at least he'll probably live," Iruka said quietly. He was still quite audible to Sakura.

"What do you mean 'he'll probably live'?" Sakura shrieked.

"This is a very serious matter," Iruka responded. "I'm sure there will be a lot of questions for you two," he said as he led them from the room.

oOo

Kabuto was unsurprised to find Orochimaru awaiting him when he and his team entered the tower. The sannin did not look happy but that merely made his smile that much more firm. The grey-haired genin pushed the glasses that were constantly slipped down his nose back into place.

Orochimaru flicked his head and Akadou and Tsurugi left for the inner part of the tower, leaving Kabuto alone with the leader of the newly-founded Sound village. "I did not expect you to return so soon," the yellow-eyed man said.

Kabuto lifted his hands as he shrugged his shoulders. "Sasuke's team finished the test," he said. He left unsaid that they probably would not have reached the tower yet without his unseen assistance. Keeping a path clear for them had not been difficult but doing so without raising their suspicions or those of his own team had taken a slight effort.

A flick of his wrist brought a card to the genin's hand and he offered it to Orochimaru. "If we had better coordination I might have gained more information. But it seems I was left out regarding a Sound team sent to attack Sasuke and the others."

"There was no point in you knowing about those pieces of trash," Orochimaru said. He took at the card from Kabuto's hand and his irate visage changed to an eerie grin as he looked at it. "He activated the Cursed Seal so soon?" The sannin's tongue ran across his upper lip. "Marvelous."

"Team Seven did have a little encounter with Gaara of the Desert," Kabuto added as an aside.

Orochimaru shot the grey-haired boy an intense glare. "Sasuke was not injured, was he?"

Considering his reaction, it seemed as though the snake summoner had not noticed anything unusual, which suited Kabuto perfectly. "Oh, no. He's just fine," Kabuto answered flippantly.

The sannin studied Kabuto for a few seconds. "If you want to sabotage my plans you'll have to act soon," he said as he smirked at the genin. Orochimaru then vanished, leaving behind a few wisps of white smoke.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses again. Unfortunately for the sannin, his plans had begun long ago.

oOo

"What do you mean?" Iruka demanded. "Where are they?!"

The exam proctor – one of many that were handling the records for the second exam – backed away slightly from the angry academy instructor. "There was some sort of large explosion and they went to investigate, I believe."

Sakura felt a bead of sweat slide down her face. Iruka had decided that they should find Kakashi or one of the other elite jounin but it turned out that they had all left the tower about three hours ago.

"What are we supposed to do since Kakashi-sensei isn't around?" Naruto asked.

Iruka sighed. "I'll take Sasuke to the infirmary. You two don't need any attention, right?" Getting a pair of nods in response, he continued. "There's a cafeteria in the middle of the third floor. Oh! And Room 307 is set aside for you to rest in." The pony-tailed chuunin left, carrying Sasuke. Sakura's eyes trailed after them until Iruka turned a corner and disappeared from view.

_**You can check on him later,**_ Lina said. _**We need to find that cafeteria!**_

"Congratulations on passing!" the exam proctor said. "You didn't break the record but five hours, twenty-two minutes is a great time for this exam. You were the first team to complete."

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted and thrust a fist into the air. "We're amazing!"

The chuunin chuckled in response.

Sakura's stomach rumbled, making her blush lightly.

"Okay!" Lina said loudly. "Time to eat!" The sorceress strode toward the stairway to the third flood with Naruto following.

"Don't get into any fights with the other teams!" the exam proctor advised as they ascended the stairs.

The cafeteria was easily found. The room held about two dozen round tables big enough for three or four people and a long buffet counter along one wall. Two Konoha genin wearing glasses and black masks over their faces sat at one of the tables drinking coffee. Aside from the cooks and waiters, the rest of the room was unoccupied.

Naruto sniffed at the air. "I smell ramen," he whispered.

The food smelled delicious and caused Sakura's stomach to growl again. "I didn't bring much money," Sakura grumbled, thinking of how much food she needed to eat according to Lina.

One of the cooks overheard her comment. "Don't worry about that," he said jovially. "The food is free for exam participants."

"Free?" Lina and Naruto asked.

"That's right, it's all paid for by the hidden villages that sent participants." The cook felt a chill run down his spine as a strange glint entered the eyes of the two members of Team Seven.

oOo

The Hokage closed the folder in front of him. Sighing deeply, he leaned his elbows on the surface of his desk and pushed his hands together. "If you have any other news, I certainly hope it's not more of this sort."

The Sandaime's guest, a man with long white hair and a reddish-brown stripe running downward from both of his eyes, scratched the back of his neck. "There's a few rumors about Orochimaru moving around in Rice Field Country but I haven't been able to pick up anything definitely."

Sarutobi closed his eyes for a moment as he thought of his renegade ex-student.

"So," the other man said, "you got any news for me?"

"Hmm…" The Hokage pondered briefly. There was no doubt in Sarutobi's mind about what the man standing on the other side of his desk wanted to do now that he had dumped his information in the Hokage's lap. There was, however, an issue that he might be able to provide unique assistance with. "There is an interesting team that graduated this year: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura. Kakashi is the team leader."

"Haruno?" the white-haired man said inquisitively. "I think I met her father once. Kakashi must have his hands full with Naruto and the last Uchiha." He began to chuckle. "Is he just as stuck up as the rest of his clan?"

"Jiraiya," Sarutobi said in a serious tone. "Sakura knows sorcery."

A silence followed the Hokage's declaration. "How is that possible?" Jiraiya asked after several seconds.

Sarutobi answered with a shrug. "She claims to have memories from a previous life, though we have no corroborating evidence. You might be able to discover something that we missed if you talk to her."

Jiraiya frowned uncertainly. "The brat wasn't very secretive in general but when it came to his sorcery… For all I know, he might have had 'memories' like that." He snorted skeptically. "So how did you find out, anyway? Is she sloppy or did she just not care who knew about her sorcery?"

"Their first C-rank mission turned into an A-rank," the Sandaime said blandly. "Momochi Zabuza and an accomplice attacked them."

The Toad Hermit roared with laughter. "Encountering one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist during a C-rank mission. Naruto must have the same sort of luck that his father did."

The corners of Sarutobi's mouth twitched upward. "There are certain similarities."

Jiraiya snapped his fingers. "Now I remember. Haruno Sakura. I've heard that name before. 'The Bandit Killer.'"

"What?" the older ninja said in a startled tone.

"Must be some sort of coincidence but-" A knock at the door interrupted the sannin. He glanced backward briefly before moving to the side of the room and disappearing from sight.

The Hokage took the folder on top of his desk and put it into a drawer. He pushed the drawer closed and activated its security seal. "Come in!" he called loudly.

Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma entered the room. Kakashi looked like his usual lazy self but the other three jounin seemed quite focused.

"So, to what do I owe the privilege of seeing my top jounin instructors while their teams are participating in the chuunin exams?" Sarutobi asked without a bit of detectable sarcasm.

Kakashi shifted from one foot to the other. Kurenai cleared her throat and the silver-haired jounin sighed. "There was an explosion in the forest earlier," he said.

Seeing Kakashi's reluctance, the Hokage decided to slow the conversation. The other jounin were a bit too high-strung at the moment and they might react badly to whatever Kakashi would reveal. He began digging through the various pieces of paper in the pockets of his robe, looking for his pipe. "Yes, I had several ANBU report it. Apparently it was quite visible from the rooftops."

"Is that all you know about it?" Kurenai asked as respectfully as she could manage.

Sarutobi found his pipe and placed it on the desk. Next, he began to search for his tobacco. "There was quite a bit of argument about what exactly it was. Most of the ANBU believed it to be a genjutsu. I sent a pair to investigate the site but…" He found the tin of tobacco and lightly packed his pipe. "Regardless of what it was, any interference with a chuunin exam must be handled with care."

"My eternal rival Kakashi caught a glimpse," Gai said significantly, "but has chosen to remain silent until he spoke to you."

Sarutobi found his matches a bit more quickly than he expected but that let him take the time to light his pipe and take a few contented puffs. "Is that so?" he enquired, wondering what the silver-haired jounin had seen.

Kakashi had apparently caught on to the Sandaime's delaying tactics. "It all started this morning," the tall jounin said, "when I was frying an egg for breakfast. I wanted to cook it sunny-side up but I accidentally broke the yolk."

The flabbergasted expressions on the other jounin nearly made the old ninja laugh aloud. Sarutobi preferred subtle distractions but he had to admit that Kakashi's ridiculous tales were often quite effective.

As Kakashi continued to describe his morning mishaps – currently telling how he dropped his toast and it landed butter-side down – a messenger burst into the room. "Your pardon, Hokage-sama," the messenger said, "but it is an emergency. Anko-sama has reported that Orochimaru has entered the chuunin exam under disguise and is in the Forest of Death." The gathered jounin were some of the best in the village and rarely showed emotion unintentionally but they all stiffened at that announcement. "She asks that you meet her at the tower."

The Hokage stood. "We will discuss the explosion later," he said firmly.

"It could be something that Orochimaru did," Kurenai protested.

Kakashi shook his head slightly.

"That may be," Sarutobi said, "but it is no longer the most critical problem. Anko must have a reason for suggesting a meeting at the tower."

"Well," said a voice from a seemingly unoccupied part of the room. Jiraiya faded back into view. "If you need fast transport then you're in luck," the Toad Sennin said with a grin.

oOo

"You should see that crater!"

Temari rolled her eyes at Kankurou's exclamation. "You've described it to me quite well, I would think." She was beginning to get annoyed by her brother's obsession with the destruction left behind by the Konoha genin.

"I've never heard of anything like it!" he said excitedly. "The ground isn't burned, it's just gone!" Kankurou had discussed switching places with his puppet but currently he was using it to keep himself propped upright.

Temari was likewise leaning against a tree, having decided an hour ago that she should rest as much as possible while waiting for Gaara to awaken. "I swear, you keep going on and on about it. It's like you have a crush on that pink-haired girl."

"I do not!" Kankurou protested.

Temari switched the hand holding her fan and flexed her now-free right hand to help restore the feeling after having it clamped on the battle fan for the last half-hour. Temari saw Gaara's leg convulse, the first movement she had seen from him since he fell unconscious. "Shh," she said in an urgent whisper, her attention now on her youngest brother.

His sand circled his body as he pushed himself into a kneeling position. The redhead slowly stood. Grains of sand drifted from the ground, collecting on the right side of his body.

The blonde kunoichi cursed. She closed her fan in an attempt to look less threatening to the monster that Gaara was transforming into.

By the time Gaara was completely erect, half of his body had been hidden by a mass of sand that changed him appearance from human to demonic. The young shinobi finally opened his eyes. His left eye still showed its normal green but the other had become a star-shaped pupil within a yellow iris surrounded by black.

"Aw, crap! Not now!" Kankurou shouted, drawing Gaara's attention to him. The puppet user sweated under the scrutiny of the younger shinobi. "Uh, I mean: whatever you want to do is fine," he said and waved his hands.

Gaara growled and thrust his deformed right hand at the puppeteer. His arm elongated and crashed into Kankurou, sending him slamming into a tree trunk. Kankurou grunted in pain. The claw wrapped around the Sand shinobi and dug into the bark of the tree. The arm of sand between Gaara and Kankurou detached from the claw and retracted, the end reforming into another claw. "Silence," he said in a voice deeper than normal. "I will not put up with your foolishness any longer."

"Gaara?" Temari asked nervously. She fell silent when the yellow eye of the Ichibi landed on her.

"Where is the sorceress?" Gaara asked in a snarl.

"She's long gone," Temari said. He had referred to the pink-haired girl as a 'sorceress' earlier also. "She may be at the tower by now." The blonde saw no reason to not be honest with the partially-transformed boy. Even if it was futile to try to calm him down, she would be patient and watch for an opportunity. It was a major part of her assigned duties, after all.

"Then I will search her out once more," the redhead promised and he moved toward the area where they had fought.

Temari watched him go for a moment and then dashed to her other bother's side. "You okay?" she asked quietly.

"More or less," Kankurou responded. "I think he cracked a couple of ribs." His eyes flicked in the direction that Gaara had gone. "You better follow him. The mission-"

"Is already screwed up," the Suna kunoichi finished. "You aren't exactly in good condition."

Kankurou tried to shrug but his arms were pinned tightly to his sides. His fingers, however, were still free below the sand holding him in place. He wiggled them and his puppet, Karasu, was unwrapped from its bandages and it stood up. "I can defend myself well enough."

Temari nodded in understanding. Then she smirked at her brother. "You'd better. You've the one carrying the scrolls." Kankurou snorted and Temari gave him a little wave before she jumped after Gaara.

The kunoichi found her youngest brother on all fours and sniffing at the ground like an animal. The sun had set a half-hour earlier but a full moon gave her more than enough light to see the terrain. Gaara was at the edge of a crater that she estimated to be nearly three hundred meters in diameter. The hole dug in the landscape was slowly filling with water from the flowing stream.

Temari was no stranger to techniques that devastated large areas but even her summoning technique could not match the sheer destruction she saw here.

She imagined that Gaara would howl when he lifted his head but the possessed shinobi simply began making massive leaps, setting a pace that Temari was hard-pressed to match. Once he reached the trees, Gaara used his claw-like right arm to propel himself even faster by adding Bijuu-powered swings to his jumps.

Temari fell behind as her brother accelerated but she had no problem in following him. Gaara was making a bee-line for the center of the forest.

oOo

"Ramen!" The cook began laughing maniacally. He took the chef's hat from his head and kicked it across the room. He continued to laugh as he pulled his long apron up and over his head. "More ramen!" he shouted like a battle cry as he dashed through the doorway leading to the kitchen.

Lina heard a crash that was a mix of breaking china and clanging metal that ended with the tinkle of silverware. "What's his problem?" she asked aloud. The sorceress busied herself with using a toothpick to work at a bit of chicken that had become stuck in her teeth.

Naruto slurped the last of the broth from his bowl and set the now-empty dish on top of one of the stacks on their table. "No idea," the blond-haired genin replied. Plates and a very large number of bowls filled most of the available on the table.

_It could be the multiple dozen bowls of ramen that Naruto ate,_ Sakura said mentally. _Or perhaps it was the additional dozen that you ate because you took one every time Naruto offered to get more,_ she snidely added.

_**Whatever,**_ Lina thought with a shrug. _**It tasted good.**_

_I'm surprised you can tell what anything tastes like at the speed you eat!_

_**Ah, that's a skill that I developed during my partnership with Naga,**_ the sorceress said. _**Whoever ate the least had to pick up the check.**_

Sakura was silent for a few moments. _Isn't that backwards?_

_**Not for us!**_ The offending piece of chicken was finally dislodged and promptly swallowed.

Sakura shook her head as she took control of her body. She still had no idea how the sorceress could eat so much food at one time. Giving Lina free reign was beneficial in this instance at least. She was already feeling more energetic and her hair now had a slight pink tinge to it. "Let's go find Sasuke-kun," she said to Naruto.

The blond made a grimace but he stood along with her. "I guess even the bastard needs someone to look after him."

Sakura shot the shorter boy a frown. "Don't call him that," she snapped as she walked out of the dining room.

Naruto shrugged with one shoulder. "I don't like how he was acting," was the explanation he gave.

"I'm not sure how much control he had over himself," Sakura said quietly.

"Yeah," Naruto said in a matching voice. He looked at his feet as they walked along.

Sakura wondered how much channeling a Mazoku's power affected the person. It was not something that she had thought about directly during her earlier merging with Lina.

_**The power itself wouldn't, **_Lina told her. _**But Naruto must have the consciousness of the Mazoku sealed inside him also. As for Sasuke… with Xelloss involved there's no telling what's going on.**_

A week ago Sakura would have probably been pleased to see the limits of Lina's knowledge. The sorceress seemed to know everything at times. Now she was too concerned about Sasuke to be so petty.

Sakura and Naruto returned to the second floor of the tower and followed the signs on the walls to the infirmary. The kunoichi noticed that there were fewer chuunin around and those that they did come across all seemed to be in a hurry. The medical staff was still present but they seemed tense.

The room Sasuke lay in was a typically austere hospital room painted white. A monitor beside his bed showed that the black-haired boy had a steady, if somewhat slow, heartbeat.

Sakura walked to the side of the bed. Sasuke's _hitai-ate_ had been removed and his dark hair messily framed his face. She pushed some of his hair away to more fully observe the sleeping boy's appearance. Even in sleep Sasuke's face did not soften; it maintained its handsome and proud profile. Sakura sat down on a chair within reaching distance and stared worriedly at Sasuke.

_How much longer will he be asleep?_ Sakura absently wondered.

_**He fought the Sleeping spell pretty hard,**_ Lina said. _**But even with that I wouldn't expect him to wake up for another hour or two.**_

Naruto leaned against a wall. His gaze shifted around constantly, for the most part avoiding Sakura and Sasuke. She could tell that the hyperactive genin was trying his best to be patient and non-intrusive. Her face changed to a small smile.

_**We need to talk to Naruto about Death Fog soon,**_ Lina said, causing Sakura to cringe.

The kunoichi knew that Lina was right. Between Sasuke, Gaara, and the Dragon Slave sooner or later she would get into a discussion that revealed just how much she knew about Mazoku.

"I know about the Kyuubi," Sakura blurted out.

Naruto's fidgeting stopped as he utterly froze in-place.

_**I didn't mean that soon,**_ Lina muttered internally.

Sakura winced as she thought about what she had just said. She had intended to be less direct but how was she supposed to talk to a person with a demon sealed inside him?

Sakura saw Naruto's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "When… when did you find out?" he asked as focused his sight on the floor.

"Wave Country," she answered. Naruto looked up in surprise. "Well, a few days after we returned is when I found out that it was the Kyuubi."

A mixture of emotions passed over the blond's face, confusion and fear prominent. "You've known that long? You haven't said anything."

Sakura shrugged uncomfortably. "At first I was afraid." Naruto flinched. "It isn't every day that you find out that a demon that killed so many people is sealed inside a friend."

"Friend?" Naruto said in a croak. "You think of us as friends?"

"Of course I do!" Sakura said angrily. "Aren't we teammates that look after each other like Kakashi-sensei taught us?"

Naruto look back down at his feet. "It's the first time you've said so," he said with a quiver in his voice. Sakura looked away in embarrassment as Naruto wiped across his eyes with his sleeve. "Who?" her blond teammate said, pulling her attention back. "Who told you? Kakashi-sensei? Does Sasuke know?"

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't. I only know because I've had experience with demons," Sakura said, "in my previous life. I felt it when you used the Kyuubi's power on Tazuna's bridge though I didn't know it was the Kyuubi until Hokage-sama told me."

"The Kyuubi's power?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Yes, I've felt you use it several times now. Like earlier today when we were fighting that snake woman."

"Oh," the blond genin said. "So that's what it was."

_**He didn't even know what he was doing,**_ Lina murmured.

"That Sand ninja Gaara had a demon inside him also," Sakura said. She decided not to mention Sasuke's situation to the blond just like she would not tell Sasuke and the Kyuubi.

Naruto stared at her in astonishment. "He's like me?"

"I wouldn't say that." Sakura gave him a small smile. "He was talking about wanting to kill his family. You're nothing like that."

Naruto was silent for a handful of seconds, a blank look on his face. He turned his head away from Sakura. "No, I was like that once," he said much to Sakura's shock. "Everyone ignored me and acted as if I didn't exist. I hated everyone in return. The last few years in the academy were different, though. I was saved from that way of life. Iruka-sensei was nice."

Sakura had to wonder about Naruto's definition of 'nice.' She remembered Iruka shouting at Naruto in almost every class.

"Shikamaru and Chouji didn't mind if I hung around them," Naruto continued. "Kiba joined us 'cuz he likes getting in trouble. Sasuke didn't treat me any differently than he did the rest of the class." He paused for a second and looked at Sakura, giving her a bright grin with his blue eyes unusually open. "And there was you, of course."

"Me?" Sakura sputtered. "I probably yelled at you more than Iruka-sensei did."

Naruto shrugged and his eyes returned to their normal squint. "Yeah, but you only yelled because of things I did." His right hand hovered over his belly. "Not because of something I didn't understand."

Sakura tried to imagine what it would be like to grow up without any friends or family. His was not a self-imposed isolation from society like Sasuke's. Sasuke had been fairly independent and withdrawn even before his family was killed; how much worse would it have been someone like Naruto who had a very extroverted nature?

The kunoichi felt a rush of compassion for her teammate, much like what she had experienced the day that teams had been assigned. Once again, she had been underestimating how many problems the boisterous Hokage-wannabe had experienced. "When did you find out about the Kyuubi?" she asked.

Before Naruto could respond the door to the room was thrown open and Kakashi strode into the room. "There you are," the jounin said. "I need to talk to the two of you. But first…" His visible eye trained on Sasuke's inert form. The silver-haired man walked closer and bent down to look at Sasuke's neck. He sighed deeply at seeing the seal. "We'll have to do something about this Cursed Seal."

"Cursed Seal?" Sakura said curiously.

"One of Orochimaru's experiments."

"Orochimaru? One of the Legendary Three?"

_**Legendary Three?**_ Lina questioned.

_Three famous ninja from Konoha: Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru,_ Sakura answered. _None of them live in the village now and Orochimaru is a missing-nin but they're considered the strongest of their generation._

"Is that the snake lady's name?" asked Naruto.

"He's not a lady," Kakashi said as he rolled his eye. "He took the appearance of a Grass ninja that was supposed to be in the exam."

"I might be able to give you some information about that Cursed Seal that you don't know," Lina said.

"I haven't personally seen an active Cursed Seal but we already know much about them." Kakashi's glanced at Naruto and then back at Lina. "Unless you know of a counter-seal, we can discuss the details later."

Lina shook her head and Kakashi picked up Sasuke.

"With Orochimaru around everyone is on edge. It would probably be best if you went to your room and stayed there."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest but Kakashi sent a slight glare in her direction.

"I'll bring Sasuke there as soon as I've taken care of the Cursed Seal," the jounin instructor said.

Kakashi left as quickly as he had entered, leaving Sakura and Naruto alone.

"Man, he's always telling us what to do!" Naruto complained as he stuffed his hands in his orange jacket.

Sakura snorted and nearly started giggling at his reaction. "He is our sensei," she said while grinning at the shorter shinobi.

Naruto grumbled as he exited the room. Sakura stood and followed him. Kakashi's arrival had shattered the serious attitude that Naruto had been displaying during their conversation. He was shouting about how they should hurry up and start the next exam so that he could become a chuunin and be a step closer to Hokage.

Sakura shook her head and she trailed after the blond that she was coming to realize was as enigmatic as Sasuke.

oOo

Temari had barely been able to keep Gaara in sight during his run toward the tower. She was sweating heavily from the abnormal exertion she was placing on her legs. She was definitely going to take a nice long soak in a hot spring when this exam ended. Assuming she was still alive. The blonde shook her head to remove the morbid thought and continued her chase.

Gaara landed for a moment in a small clearing. Temari noted that he could have easily have remained in the trees but he did not seem to be willing to veer in the slightest from his path. Before he could launch himself away an explosion occurred, obscuring him from Temari's view. At the same time a net was launched from one of the nearby trees, catching the area where Gaara had been.

Three boys jumped out of their hiding places, surrounding the ninja who had fallen into their trap. Their positions marked a triangle surrounding their target with one placed directly to the rear.

"We got him!" one of them shouted.

As Temari neared, she was about to make out the Leaf forehead protectors that the shinobi were wearing.

The smoke from what she guessed had been an explosive tag cleared, showing Gaara's misshaped form underneath the net.

"What the hell is he?" another one of the Konoha genin asked.

"**Sabaku Kyuu,**" Gaara growled as he thrust his unequal arms outward. Sand burst from the ground and wrapped around the two ninja in front of him.

The ninja behind Gaara threw a handful of shuriken. More sand gathered behind the Suna ninja and blocked the projectiles. The sand formed a more solid shape and gained blue vein-like markings on its surface. Gaara's newly-formed tail lashed out, unhindered by the net he was covered by, and stabbed through the chest of the Leaf genin.

"**Sabaku Sousou.**" The sand encasing the other two members of the ill-fated team constricted and blood splattered the ground after their short screams.

Temari sighed, knowing that there was no way to calm down Gaara after he had transformed to this extent. As Gaara ripped apart the netting that had not done much to impeded him, she pulled her canteen from the pouch at her waist. She opened the metal water bottle and poured its contents over her hand. A small object wrapped in a plastic bag dropped into her hand and she screwed the lid back on her canteen.

Radios and similar were not allowed for this exam but the Village Hidden in the Sand had recently developed special canteens that foiled any jutsu known, only the water within was detectable. It was believed that they would even fool the _doujutsu_ of Konoha though they had yet to truly test it.

The device that Temari now held was a rather simple transmitter, though it had a decent range for such devices. The Suna kunoichi turned two knobs, one for the frequency and the other to set the code that would be sent. Pushing the sole button on the transmitter, she activated the device. Temari then ripped the bag open, let the device drop to the ground, and placed the empty plastic in her belt pouch.

Konoha might detect and locate the radio but there was nothing to directly connect it to her team. Even if the mission was falling apart, she was determined to do everything professionally.

Temari took off again, following the monster that she had trouble thinking of as her youngest brother.

oOo

Naruto opened the door to Room 307 and immediately stopped.

Sakura looked around him and into the room. She blinked in confusion. The kunoichi had expected a simple room with enough space for three _futon_ and an adjoining bathroom. Instead the room looked like a wide-open field of grass and flowers. There was a set of tall white marble plinths surrounding a black wrought-iron table with a glass top. Matching chairs with plush cushions completed the scenery. And a strangely-dressed man with purple hair sat at the table, calming sipping from a cup.

"Crap," said Lina.

_Genjutsu?_ Sakura wondered. She quickly made a hand seal. "**Kai,**" she said quietly as she momentarily disrupted the flow of her chakra. The scene in front of her did not change in the slightest.

_**Don't bother,**_ Lina thought sourly.

The man looked up – or so his body language indicated, his narrowed eyes made it difficult to tell – and he called out cheerful: "Lina-chan! So nice to see you again."

_Who is that?_ Sakura thought frantically. _How does he know your name?_

"'Lina-chan?'" Naruto said with a frown.

_**Let me handle this,**_ the sorceress told Sakura. For a moment, Lina seriously considered slamming the door shut. It was unlikely in the extreme that he would provide any useful information. On the other hand, if she did not talk to him he would probably start following her around and pestering her until she did. The sorceress sighed as she entered the room. "Xelloss," she said with a nod to the purple-haired Mazoku.

_That's Xelloss?_ Sakura asked. _I expected someone more… evil looking._

The Mazoku wore a pair of baggy, black pants and a tan long-sleeved shirt. A black shawl covered the upper half of his shirt and a matching cloak covering his back. A wooden, slightly crooked staff with a red orb at the top lay propped against the table.

Lina snorted. _**He's the most deceptive being I've ever encountered. Be careful when we're around him; he wasn't called 'The Trickster Priest' by other Mazoku for nothing.**_

Naruto hesitantly came into the room, glancing between Lina and Xelloss. "Who is he?" he asked. The door swung shut with a creak and disappeared the instant it fully closed. The blond genin stood rooted in place and looked around warily.

Lina ignored the theatrics and pointed at Xelloss. "I'll give you the simple version. Xelloss is a powerful demon. You shouldn't trust him at all, Naruto." Lina sat down at the table. She kept her eyes on Xelloss but noticed Naruto stiffen.

The General-Priest held a hand over the location of a human's heart. "You wound me, Lina-chan," he said piteously.

"I wish," Lina muttered.

"He's a demon?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Then why are you sitting with him?" The blond shinobi took a fighting stance but continued to watch Lina in confusion.

_Normally I would agree with Naruto – what a thought – but I want to know about the Cursed Seal, _Sakura said.

_**Don't worry, I'll ask him about it, **_Lina said. "Well, he's not going to attack us," Lina said in answer to Naruto. Xelloss smiled at her. "He's not the type for head-on confrontations."

"I have a lovely tea from Saillune," the Mazoku said as a porcelain teapot appeared in his hand. He sat it and a cup in front of Lina. "Or perhaps you would prefer a Zefielian wine?" This time it was a bottle of red liquid that Xelloss was suddenly holding.

Naruto walked closer to the table, looking bewildered.

Lina waved away the offered drinks. "Go ahead and sit down," she said to Naruto. "Xelloss isn't… exactly… an enemy."

"What sweet words of praise!"

"And there is a slim chance he'll be helpful," the sorceress said.

Naruto reluctant lowered himself into one of the chairs. "He called you 'Lina.' Did he know you in your previous life?"

Xelloss looked at Naruto. "Well, I must say that he's smarter than the last blond you had following you around."

Anger surged through Lina's mind but she quickly smothered it. "Don't talk about him like that," she said, wondering whether it was Gourry or Naruto that she was defending. "What are you doing here? This is the White World not Shabranigdo's."

Xelloss beamed at Lina's question and clapped his hands together. "I knew you had figured it out!"

_Cursed Seal!_ Sakura impatiently prompted again.

"And another thing, I want you to explain this Cursed Seal thing that was put on my friend," Lina said.

"Between your knowledge and what the ninja know, you should be able to understand well enough," the Mazoku said with a shrug.

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "What does he have to do with Sasuke's craziness?"

"Because it is my power that Sasuke-kun is using," Xelloss told the blond shinobi. "The 'craziness' is just a side-effect. It will go away as he gains better control."

_Is he telling the truth?_ Sakura desperately asked.

_**I have no idea, **_Lina responded with sympathy. "What do you get out of it?" she inquired of the Mazoku.

Xelloss gave the sorceress his usual smile. "That is a secret!" he said as he waggled his index finger at her.

Lina had been prepared for that answer but she could feel Sakura's annoyance building as Xelloss refused to give them any information. _**Try dealing with answers like that for over two years,**_ she thought, _**and then you'll understand why I hate that saying.**_

_You said it was like a black magic spell,_ Sakura said. _What do Mazoku get from giving their power to humans that way?_

_**Mazoku feed on negative human emotions,**_ Lina answered. _**Experiencing and even witnessing the effects of black magic tends to cause a lot of fear, pain, and anger.**_

_Could Xelloss be using the Cursed Seal for the same reasons then?_

_**Maybe,**_ Lina admitted. _**But I've never known Xelloss to offer his power for black magic either.**_ She let out a sigh. "Okay, back to my original question. Why are you here? What do you want?" the sorceress asked sharply.

The Mazoku's purple eyes cracked open for a moment. "What do I want?" he repeated. His face returned to its normal expression. "How much do you remember?"

"I remember enough… Rezo, Fibrizo, Dark Star." Lina's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why are you asking me something like that? Do you have something to do with… my 'rebirth' here?"

Xelloss looked appropriately shocked, which meant nothing. "Me? Of course not, Lina. You've done this to yourself."

"You said you didn't remember much about your past," Naruto said. "But you were talking about demons earlier and now…" The blond-haired boy frowned thoughtfully.

"I didn't want to discuss the experiences I had with demons and such," Lina said. "Especially given your… situation." Naruto flinched slightly at Lina's words. "Sorry, Naruto. There are some things that are hard to discuss." The blond shinobi nodded.

"That's right!" Xelloss exclaimed as if suddenly remembering something. Lina did not buy the act for a second. "Naruto-kun is the vessel of Death Fog! Quite interesting seals these ninja have developed. Wouldn't you agree, Lina?"

Naruto frowned at the Mazoku. "'Death Fog?'"

"One of the names for the Kyuubi," Lina explained. "You're still avoiding my questions, Xelloss."

"Let me tell you a bedtime story," Xelloss said. "Once upon a time there was a sorceress named Lina Inverse who came to the attention of the Mazoku – you would call them 'greater demons,' Naruto-kun." The blue-eyed boy growled in response. "The most powerful of the Mazoku gathered together and said: perhaps this sorceress can be our tool."

Sakura shuddered in her mind, being reminded of what Zabuza had said about ninja being tools.

"A wise and handsome Mazoku – the hero of our tale – was sent to guide her," Xelloss proclaimed. "The result was not only the destruction of the rebel Garv but also the destruction of the Mazoku who thought he was in control."

_You destroyed a rebellious Mazoku?_

_**Don't misunderstand. Just because he was a rebel doesn't mean he was on the side of humanity or anything like that,**_ Lina said.

"The Mazoku were then worried but they told themselves that Fibrizo had pushed too hard, that their tool was still useful."

Naruto was frowning fiercely at Xelloss as the Mazoku continued.

"The hero was given another task: use the sorceress to destroy Valgarv, the last Mazoku loyal to Garv. He was triumphant, naturally, but with an unexpected consequence: one of the four most powerful Mazoku known was ruined. The Mazoku decided that the tool was better left alone."

Xelloss shifted in his seat and propped his head up with an arm, elbow resting on the table. "I lost track of you for a while after that," he said. "The barrier had been destroyed and there was a whole new world for us to explore and conquer. You had returned to your home land and your little group of adventurers had mostly broken apart."

_**This I don't remember,**_ Lina thought.

_So you don't know if he's lying or not,_ Sakura stated.

_**Right.**_

"Then you all suddenly reappeared. At the North Pole, no less. You destroyed Grawshellar and the trapped fragment of Shabranigdo."

For a moment Lina had an image in her mind, a memory of standing on a white frozen plain before a huge black castle that was partially encased in ice. Gourry stood beside her, wielding a sword made of some sort of lavender metal. Amelia – her dark hair looking longer than Lina's other memories showed – was next to Naga; the latter still wearing her black bikini-like outfit despite the setting. Zelgadiss stood on Amelia's other side with as little of his bluish rock-like skin showing as possible. The priestess Sylphiel was standing slightly behind Gourry, hands raised and glowing with power as she chanted.

Then the memory was gone. Lina was certain that she had not imagined it but the recollection had been strangely weak.

"I have my suspicions but I don't suppose you'd like to tell me why you did that?" Xelloss hardly gave Lina time to answer before he began again. "No? Well, the Mazoku finally concluded that their tool had to be destroyed. The hero was sent out once more, this time to find another of Shabranigdo's sealed fragments. When he succeeded… the war began."

"War?" Naruto asked breathlessly.

Lina found herself unconsciously gripping the edge of the table.

"Yes," Xelloss said in a pleased tone. "Mazoku swarmed across the land. Countless humans were killed but the tool survived each attempt to destroy her. Until she was finally cornered. It seemed that all would go as the Mazoku desired." The purple-haired Mazoku's smile remained in place. "Then the Dragons arrived. Though the Shinzoku lost one of their own in that battle, the Mazoku also lost one of their leaders as well as the awakened fragment of Shabranigdo. With Dolphin ruined, my master," unexpectedly Xelloss gave the word a harsh sarcastic edge, "Zelas-Metallium was the last of the Greater Mazoku. She was forced to retreat but she conceived of a plan to rebuild the Mazoku's strength: the hero would travel to the Black World and bring back the Dark Star weapons. If they could be changed from their original forms and their minds suppressed as they had been then it should be possible to change them into something more akin to the Greater Mazoku of the Red World. So the hero went forth… but he found something in the Black World that he had not known he was looking for."

_**Here it comes,**_ Lina said to herself.

_What?_ Sakura asked.

_**The important part,**_ the sorceress answered. _**Everything he's said so far… I'd like to know more but it's useless in our current circumstances.**_

Lina's attention was fully on Xelloss but Naruto was caught up in the story. "What did he find?" the blond asked.

Xelloss' purple eyes opened wide. "Freedom," he said. "I found that I was outside my master's influence, no longer bound to her will, free to do as I wanted for the first time in my existence. I do not believe that a human would be able to understand."

Lina shivered. Xelloss had always been difficult to understand, he was a Mazoku doing the will of the Beastmaster but he had always used unorthodox methods compared to other Mazoku. She could only speculate as to how much more tricky he would be now that he was choosing his own goals.

"The Black World did not suit me, however. So here I am."

"And you expect me to believe that my being here is a coincidence?" Lina asked.

"I never said that," Xelloss replied. "I simply said that it was your doing."

"Yet you've found me just a few months after I cast a spell for the first time."

The Mazoku shrugged. "You aren't very subtle, Lina-chan. Your black magic would have drawn me to you if nothing else. Speaking of which, what do you plan to do about Gaara?"

"Gaara?"

"Yes. Even if the Shukaku is the weakest of the Tailed Beasts, he is still one of this world's analogues of the Greater Mazoku." Xelloss typical smile was back in place. "Surely you didn't think that your little Dragon Slave would kill his host." He gave a tut of disapproval. "They're coming for you, Lina. You need to be ready."

_He didn't die?_ Sakura whispered in terror.

"And how am I supposed to handle him?" Lina asked irritably. "Unless you have my Demon Blood Talismans." Xelloss shook his head. "Or one of the Dark Star weapons hidden under your cloak, I don't know how to quickly increase my power."

"I'm sure you'll find a way," Xelloss said. He snapped his fingers and everything vanished in a burst of darkness.

Lina's vision returned to her suddenly. She and Naruto were in a small room, sitting on two wooden chairs. There were a pair of desks along one of the walls and a small round table in a corner.

_So it was an illusion,_ Sakura thought.

The sorceress sighed and rubbed her forehead. _**What are we going to do?**_

_We still have to wait for Kakashi-sensei,_ Sakura said. _We would probably just waste time if we went around looking for him. And I doubt anyone else would believe us._

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said brightly. "You beat him once, you can do it again! And I'll be there to protect you too!" Despite his cheerful voice, Lina could see the worry on his face.

Lina studied the blond momentarily and then crossed her arms. She could not increase her power quickly but Naruto might be a different story. "There's no way to teach you any useful magic in a couple of hours. But there's something else we can try."

Naruto shuddered at the sinister smile he was given by the girl with pale pink hair.

"Let's talk about the Kyuubi."

oOo

Kabuto found Orochimaru in a dark, unoccupied room in one of the lower-level basements of the tower.

The Snake Sannin looked inordinately pleased with himself and Kabuto could only assume that everything regarding the Uchiha boy was going as Orochimaru desired. The news that the grinning grey-haired boy was about to give would change the sannin's expression. "There's a problem," he said as he decided to drag out the dialogue.

"What sort of problem?" Orochimaru asked, his slanted eyes narrowing.

"It seems that Sabaku no Gaara has begun his transformation ahead of schedule."

"'Ahead of schedule?'" Orochimaru hissed. "If the Ichibi is discovered before the final exams the whole plan will be ruined!"

"I'm afraid it may be too late," Kabuto said, earning him a glare from the older ninja. "Gaara is likely rampaging through the forest as we speak. He's bound to attract attention."

"Where is he right now?"

An inhuman roar echoed through the room, diminished but not completely silenced by the layers of wood and stone between it and the surface.

"I would guess that he's just outside the tower," the grey-haired boy said.

Orochimaru's glare intensified. "What is the status of the Sound forces?" he spat out in inquiry.

"They have been filtering into the village and woods in small numbers as per your orders." Kabuto absently adjusted his glasses. "Approximately half are in position now. The Sound Four are also nearby."

Orochimaru beat against the wall with a closed fist.

"Order the invasion to begin. And have the Four standing by for my personal orders."

Kabuto nodded.

"And if I find out that this is your doing, I'll have your head."

Kabuto bowed in acknowledgement. Orochimaru vanished, leaving the smiling genin alone until he too disappeared.

End of Chapter 6

oOo

**Replies:**

Oberon re. "Hmm... as far as I know there's only 3 reasons why black magic failed. 1) the Mazaoku has revoked the right of humans to call upon their power. … 2) There's a Divine barrier that keeps people from using black magic just as there was a mazoku barrier that kept people from using Divine magic back in Lina's time. 3) this is not Shabragdingdo's world." – I had not thought of your #1 exactly, so I added it as an aside. Thanks.

Kiba-and-Sakura-4ever re. "So far we've had alot of things from lina herself involved, Does sakura have anything special we're going to lead up to? Basically this whole thing is about Lina, and sakura is just learning what's going on." – I forgot to copy the reply I sent. **Meh.** To some extent the story is about Sakura getting dragged into a mess because of Lina. Whether Sakura is special or not… you'll have to judge that. I'm not sure that Lina is special aside from her experience. And Lina really has no clue what's going on yet, she just knows more about Mazoku/demons. Sakura has done some explaining also though perhaps I haven't emphasized it as much.

zenihua re. "well, even though i have yet to watch slayers, im terribly eager for the next chapter." – Glad to hear that you're enjoying it. If anything is really confusing, let me know. There are definitely things I purposely haven't covered yet but I don't want to leave readers such as yourself out.

Tombadgerlock re. "Yes! Xellos is coming in next chapter :-) Cool. this is quite good overall, though i hope it won't diverge too much into the slayer anime." – I think it's as much into Slayers as it will get. Slayers background but not the Slayers setting if that makes sense. How did you know Xelloss was coming?! Oo I must have dropped a hint without realizing it.

Violet re. "If you need any spells can I help?I have ideas!" – I'll certainly let you know if I find myself needing some new spells.

Mayumi Crescent Moon re. "is the real sakura always going to be so weak and annoying? she keeps being mean to naruto and chasing after sasuke. Sakura is my fav character but shes annoying in this fic" – _Pi facefaults. _ Okay, that was unexpected. Sakura is weak? She's not throwing fireballs around yet but her abilities have been vital in every battle so far. Even the super prodigy Sasuke couldn't hold up against Orochimaru's killing intent initially. They're in life-and-death situations and Sakura's not going to ignore Lina's abilities just to prove that she can beat another ninja – I was tempted to write Sakura vs. the Sound team but three-on-one is a bit much for her yet. Sakura would trounce Ino one-on-one as she is now. As if that fight will happen. **Hehe.** As for being mean to Naruto and chasing Sasuke… I'm trying to have her act similarly to how she did in the manga there. Personalities don't change quickly without something really drastic occurring. 'Mean' is going a bit far, though. She finds him exasperating at times but she is concerned about him as a teammate – in the previous chapter she checked on his injuries several times and cheered internally when he helped against the Sound ninja. Thanks for this review though, it helped kick me back into gear.

I received a couple of somewhat critical assessments this time, which I don't mind at all. They haven't changed my plans much (they spawned perhaps an additional paragraph in this chapter) but continue sending them. It's highly unlikely to alter the major plots but I am open to making changes.

**Notes:**

I hope you enjoyed the chuunin exams.

Credit where credit is due. Neji's Gentle Fist vs. Gaara's sand here was influenced by Legendary Legacy's "The Pride of Suna" Chapter 11. I can't even remember now how I first imagined that fight. I had decided shortly after starting this fanfic who would be present for the first cast of the Dragon Slave though.

The whole Sakura/Lina fusion thing is a little cheesy, I know. I can only say in my defense that I have been building up to it and it is a one-time thing.

Most of the details about Luna are made up. She is the Ceipheed Knight – whatever that entails – and she does work as a waitress and for those who haven't seen TRY she deliberately stuck Lina with the responsibility of saving the world in at least one instance.

Anything about the White and Blue Worlds is also made up. The Dark Star weapons seen in Slayers were originally sentient space ships called Lost Ships. For more information about the Black World, you can watch "Lost Universe" which is set long before the events in the Slayers series (much of the LU anime is badly-written filler though – **blarg**).

I've seen at least one source try to connect each of the Mazoku Lords with a specific element. Ruby Eye/Red World/Flare Dragon certainly has a Fire theme but Dark Star/Black World/Night Dragon doesn't seem to connect with Earth nearly as well. Death Fog would be Water and Chaotic Blue (Japanese is 'Blue Sky') would be Air if the associations hold true. For this fanfic, at least, I'm ignoring that theory. The essence of a Mazoku Lord is destruction, pure and simple.

White is the traditional color for death in Japan.

Mazoku energy is black in all cases. The true forms of Mazoku don't appear often in Slayers but often enough to prove it in my mind. So no random colors for different Bijuu chakra. It is visible by Sharingan and Byakugan when it is in the physical plane.

The Dragon Slave sometimes has a shockwave accompanying it and sometimes doesn't, like in the third movie or in NEXT when a section of Saillune gets eaten by the boosted Dragon Slave. I wanted it to be very different from any fire jutsu so no shockwave.

Being unconscious is not at all the same thing as being asleep – at least from a medical point of view.

Lighting + Kagemane. I didn't make use of it here but what a nasty combination. I'm going to have to be more careful about when I team up Sakura and Shikamaru.

I downloaded a clip showing Tenten's technique but sitting in one place in mid-air is about as stupid as you can get so I changed it a little.

Sasuke is asleep for an entire chapter! _Pi bangs his head against his desk._ I tried to find a way around it but other things took precedence.

Xelloss' story… who knows, maybe I'll write a pure Slayers fanfic at some point. The sword I described Gourry holding in Lina's memory is supposed to be the Blast Sword from the novels.

_bentou_ – lunchbox  
_doujutsu_ – eye technique  
_nikuman_ – abbreviation for _nikumanjuu_, steamed meat bun  
_Katon_ – fire release  
_Hyouton_ – ice release  
_Juuken_ – Gentle Fist  
_Byakugan_ – White Eyes  
_Densetsu no Sannin_ – Three Ninja of Legend  
_Kekkei Genkai_ – Bloodline Limit  
_Eigo_ – English language  
_futon_ – Japanese bedroll

_Kamaitachi no Jutsu_ – Sickle Weasel (literally), cutting wind technique – note: not Temari's summoning technique despite the name  
_Nikudan Sensha_ – Human Bullet Tank  
_Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu_ – Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique  
_Sabaku Kyuu_ – Desert Coffin  
_Sabaku Sousou_ – Desert Funeral  
_Kai_ – Genjutsu Kai, Illusion Technique Cancel

_Hakumu-ou_ – Japanese title for Death Fog, literally 'White Fog-king'

_Astral Vine_ – shamanistic spirit spell, imbues a weapon with spiritual energy so that it can damage Mazoku and block minor spells  
_Vis Farank_ – shamanistic spirit spell, Amelia's original spell which imbues the caster's fists with spiritual energy that is expelled when a punch is landed  
_Dragon Slave_ – black magic spell, Sakura's/Lina's altered version that draws power from Mazoku Lord Death Fog 'Kyuubi' (true name unknown) to annihilate a very large area – **new chant:** you'll have to wait for the next chapter!

**Omake:**

Neji almost smirked at the approaching redheaded Sand shinobi. But as a Hyuuga he was beyond such things of course. "Such threats will not frighten Konoha ninja," he said.

"Hey! Where did Shikamaru and the others go?" questioned a loud, blond ninja.

"Ino-pig's team scuttled off like roaches."

Neji managed not to scowl using his superior Hyuuga emotional control. But why, oh, why were the fates mocking him?

**Omake:**

Kakashi wondered if he could distract them and escape. There was one fool-proof distraction that he knew and now might be just the time to use it.

"Look! A three-headed monkey!"

**Omake:**

"Even your clones are smarter than you are," Sakura said acidly.

"Everyone's a critic," Naruto grumbled. "I tell ya, I don't get no respect."


End file.
